- Indeed lists the 15 best companies in the U.S. to work for.
- To be sure, none of these listed companies are particularly surprising when it comes to their rank on the Indeed list.
- However, it’s how they achieved their place within the top 15 should give pause to all – employees, managers and CEOs alike, who work for large U.S. firms.
In the news, activists have been fighting for a higher federal minimum wage and more benefits, a sign that they aren’t happy with what they get from their current employers. In response, some companies have said this pay increase will hurt their bottom line, and others have threatened to replace unskilled workers with robotics. While this debate about minimum wage is ongoing, there are other companies who are doing right by their employees. In 2018, Indeed listed the 15 superstars that their polling data said paid the best in their fields.
Number one on the list was discount retailer, Costco Wholesale. While we may know Costco for its cheap chicken and amazing free samples, the company is beloved by employees for providing a living wage. For instance, the retailer’s minimum wage in 2016 was $13.50, which is almost double the federal minimum wage of $7.50.
After Costco, healthcare company Kaiser Permanente, communications giant Verizon, and shipping company FedEx Express were next on the Best Companies list. Indeed noted that the average salaries at these companies vary from each other, but what earned their place was that they were exceptional in their respective fields—mainly that they take care of their employees when we are living in an era when many corporations are not known to do that for the little guy.
Indeed stated that the 15 companies on their Best Places to Work list were leaders in their industries in compensation, a term that includes not only money but benefits.
The top 15 places to work are:
- Costco Wholesale
- Kaiser Permanente
- Verizon
- FedEx Express
- Apple
- Capital One
- HEB
- ALDI
- Starbucks
- General Motors
- Publix
- Intel
- Boeing
- Microsoft
- AT&T
According to Indeed, “We all want a job that gives us a sense of fulfillment at the end of the day. But the ability to provide for a family or retirement is fundamental. The vast majority of people who work need to make a living, which makes compensation one of the most important aspects of a job. Much more than just a single number, compensation is a package that includes both salary and benefits. Ideally, employees will find the best possible combination of salary and benefits that makes them feel valued by their companies and—more importantly—allows them to support themselves and their families.”
So what made the 15 on this list decide to go above and beyond for their employees?
The philosophy of Costco
Costco Wholesale was named first on the Indeed list because it is one of the most generous employers in the retail industry. Costco is a membership-based discount retailer that has stores throughout the country. They are best known for their low pricing and bulk offerings, as well as services such as optometry and tire sales. The corporation is headquartered in Washington state, and the company has over 10,000 employees nationwide.
Time Magazine said that Costco’s first place on this list is because it “broke the stereotype that attributes start-ups and tech companies with the top marks in pay and benefits.” Costco has employees that are full-time, part-time, and hourly; and every employee is offered benefits that include health care, 401K plans, life insurance, stock options, and more. The retailer’s generosity shows that it values its employees as important assets.
Indeed added that although the average pay for a Costco employee nowhere rivals that of say, someone in the tech industry, Costco rests at the number one slot because it is a beacon in the retail industry, which typically does not offer living wages.
“Great pay and benefits are relative,” Indeed stated. “A retail company’s average compensation package may not come close to the average compensation package of a software firm, but when an organization leads its industry, it can secure a place among the top organizations overall.”
Besides offering a starting minimum wage that is way more than the federal government mandates, Costco is also viewed as a fair employer by its employees. For example, one worker told Indeed, “They have a graduated wage program that’s based purely on total hours worked. Show up, do your job and your pay goes up on its own.” This type of transparent pay model is appreciated because it removes resentment caused by perceived favoritism or discrimination and it inspires people to want to work more.
Employees shared with Indeed that Costco has a family-first approach, which is why they want to treat their workers well. This sentiment is repeated on the company website, which states that their corporate philosophy is to value the people who work for them.
“Costco Wholesale is a multi-billion dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in eight countries. We are the recognized leader in our field, dedicated to quality in every area of our business and respected for our outstanding business ethics. Despite our large size and explosive international expansion, we continue to provide a family atmosphere in which our employees thrive and succeed. We are proud to have been named by Washington CEO Magazine as one of the top three companies to work for in the state of Washington,” Costco stated.
Why were the other companies named the best places to work?
Besides Costco, companies such as Kaiser Permanente, Verizon, FedEx Express, and Apple made the Indeed Best Places to Work list for providing good pay and benefits to its employees; and for being industry leaders.
“We wouldn’t blame you if you expected this list to be dominated by leading tech companies with deep pockets and a tradition of competing for top talent. That’s the stereotype, after all. Instead, the results of our analysis reveal organizations from a range of different industries, including retail, telecommunications, automotive, financial services and healthcare,” Indeed stated.
Placing second, Kaiser Permanente employees said the company is “the highest paying medical facility hands down. Best benefit package anywhere.” Kaiser Permanente is a medical system that provides insurance and healthcare to almost 12 million users on the West Coast. Founded in 1945, the company headquarters is in Oakland, California; and it has over 200,000 employees.
Additionally, a Kaiser Permanente employee told Indeed, “There is no better place to work,” and this sentiment seems to be shared by numerous others who feel that the medical company fosters a positive work environment.
Positive work environments are something that big tech companies are known to strive for, so it’s no surprise that three big industry leaders—Apple, Intel, and Microsoft—made the list.
Apple is an innovative technology company that makes devices, applications, and software. It is best known for their Mac computers and the systems that go with it, applications such as iTunes, and electronics such as iPads and iPhones. The company was ranked higher than Intel and Microsoft, and one reason for this is because of the employee-reported perks. At Apple, their fun perks include an on-site gym and doctor’s office as well as beer bashes and company barbecues. For female employees, they offer to pay for egg freezing so that they can have a family later on in their careers.
Providing fun, taking care of employees’ mental and physical health, and allowing people to save for retirement are huge benefits provided by the Indeed top 15. Another perk that employees like is providing education. For instance, Starbucks, which ranked ninth on the list, gives benefits-eligible employees tuition coverage for a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.
Comparing the Indeed Top 15 Companies with other large corporations
The Indeed Best Of list shows that companies can thrive and still compensate their employees at a living wage, but CNN reported earlier in 2018 that many American companies continue to have low-paid workforces. While companies such as Costco, Starbucks, and ALDI exist, there are other major service industry companies such as Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Kroger that continue to pay the federal or state minimum wage or something only slightly better.
In the past, it was considered a big break to get a job with a giant company because those organizations paid the best. However, a study from the University of California—Berkeley, and the Social Security Administration stated that large corporations are no longer paying better than small businesses.
"Large firms have paid a significantly higher wage for more than a century," the study said. "But over the last thirty years this large firm premium has started to disappear."
According to CNN, big companies used to be well-known for paying better than their small business counterparts, but with time, it became the corporate giants that were cheapening out on their workers. In the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, big companies paid better; but the tide turned from 1980 to 2013. This shift in low wages happened when bigger companies that were more service-oriented than manufacturing-oriented dominated the Fortune 500 list.
CNN stated that the biggest perpetrator of low-wages is the retail and service sector, which makes Costco’s place at number one on the Indeed job list all the more commendable. The study showed that in markets where there are few companies to compete, those companies choose to lower wages and to not raise prices. The companies’ thinking is that they’d rather expand their reach by being the cheapest option, no matter the cost.
Academics theorized that large firms can pay workers low wages for several reasons. One, the companies are so large that workers do not have many options when it comes to where they can work to get better pay. Another theory is that CEOs have been slashing budgets that cover staff wages, even if the companies have the money to pay more. For instance, in 2017, a Bank of America analyst downgraded Chipotle because the burrito restaurant chain refused to lower its labor costs.
The academic theory regarding CEOs is disturbing when one learns that the higher paid leaders are actually in charge of the worst companies. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2017 that the well-paid CEOs of failing companies made $10 million more than their higher performing peers. For current proof of this concept, one needs to only look at the executives of Toys-R-Us. The once popular toy retailer filed for bankruptcy in March of 2018, and a judge shocked the public when he ruled that the Toys-R-Us leaders could still receive their big bonuses, despite thousands of lower-level employees losing their jobs with no severance.
“Large U.S. companies have for years sought to tie executive pay to financial and stock-market results, but a new study suggests their efforts aren’t working over the long term,” the Wall Street Journal stated. “The study, from investment research firm MSCI Inc., compared 10 years of stock-market returns at 423 U.S. companies to the compensation their CEOs received over that period. It found highly paid CEOs among the worst performers and vice versa, even counting market gains on their equity compensation.”
The study compared companies’ stock market returns from 2006 through 2015 to what was paid out to CEOs, who are often given generous bonus packages dependent on performance, in addition to their high salaries. It stated that one factor in the mismatch between high CEO pay and low company performance is that big-time payouts often happen during mergers and acquisitions or when the CEO is forced out.
Conclusion
Analyzing the 15 companies that made this list, there are a few common threads. The main one is that they take care of their employees, full and part-time, with good pay and benefits such as medical, dental, vision, retirement, and education. But it’s not just compensation that keeps workers happy. Positive environments, room for advancement, and appreciation also go a long way, and it seems that the 15 places on this list have achieved that.
The 15 companies on the Indeed list also show that employers can succeed in any industry while also providing enough money for workers to have a comfortable life and provide for their families. The amount of money paid show that it’s not the dollar amount of pay that causes satisfaction but instead it is the amount in comparison to other companies in that particular industry.
For more information, read the following articles:
- Top 20 Things Employers Can Do to Attract Millennial Workers
- 15 Ways You Can Find and Keep Awesome Employees
- How to Research a Potential Hire before the Interview
