Facebook is the best place to work among US companies, according to employee research firm Glassdoor. The survey was based on nearly 150,000 employee reviews submitted during 2010 on companies with more than 500 employees. The results of the study rely on how satisfied workers are with their employers. Feelings about their CEOs were also taken into account. On a scale of “1 to 5,” Facebook received a grade of 4.6. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg got a 96% approval rating.
It might seem that people would want to have jobs at a cutting edge technology company where their stock options might make them rich. That is not the case based on Glassdoor data. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) finished second on the list. It is widely considered the best run American airline, but it is not a firm likely to create many millionaires. The top ten after Southwest, were consulting firm Bain, General Mills, PR firm Edelman, Boston Consulting, the SAS Institute, Slalom Consulting, Overstock, and Susquehanna International.
The top 50 companies were dominated by tech firms such as Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), NetApp, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Analog Devices. Companies which tend to recruit MBAs also did well. These include McKinsey, Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).
The list is dominated by corporations which pay very well. It also has a large number of companies which are well known for excellent customer service. These include American Express (NYSE: AXP), Northwestern Mutual, and State Farm.
It is hard to find a common thread among the 50 companies, which makes it very hard to analyze. Three traits appear to be common among most of the firms. They are innovators. They have strong relationships with their customers. Or, they are places that make their employees rich. That is a pretty poor foundation on which to make a detailed analysis, but it is all observers of the list have to go by.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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