It’s an unfortunate truth that most people spend the lion’s share of their waking hours at their jobs. Or at least, that’s an unfortunate truth of most of us. Some others, though, are lucky enough to work at the sort of company that has recognized the value of its employees and set out to improve their productivity and retention rates by putting a priority on having a happy, healthy workforce.
Fortunately, if you’re on the hunt for a new job and are interested in finding a workplace where happy employees are the norm, job review website Glassdoor has a wealth of resources at your disposal, including ratings and reviews from current and former employees. Because after all, while any company will most likely insist it puts its employees first during the interview process, the anonymous opinions of people actually in the trenches are probably going to give you much more valuable insight.
So, here’s a closer look at the 20 happiest companies to work for, according to Glassdoor reviewers. These are all companies that have made offering generous wages and benefits just one part of a broader strategy to making the talent they attract want to stay as long as they can.
This cloud-based payroll and human capital solutions provider offer paid time off, employee stock purchase plans and tuition reimbursement as part of its generous benefits package.
“I recently started work in the Schaumburg office and have loved every second of it. I never thought it was possible to have an office job you love going to,” wrote an accounting specialist in Schaumburg, Illinois, in one Glassdoor review. “Paylocity treats their employees with the upmost respect. They have amazing benefits, great flexibility, and are nothing less than understanding when it comes to your personal life.”
The employees of this management consulting company rave on Glassdoor about the family leave (eight weeks for new dads and 12 for new moms), excellent health insurance and easy-to-use 401(k) plan.
“I didn’t believe McKinsey’s culture would live up to the hype, I was wrong, it exceeds it,” wrote one professional development manager from Waltham, Massachusetts. “The firm lives by it’s (sic) values and you are treated with incredible respect. Even when things don’t work out, the firm is supportive in helping people land on their feet.”
Ultimate Software — maker of human capital management solution UltiPro — also makes Fortune’s list of best places to work at the No. 8 spot and topped the magazine’s list of best workplaces for women.
“Work/Life balance (sic) is great, and you really feel like the company cares about you,” wrote one current employee in Santa Ana, California, on Glassdoor. “Between fully-paid health benefits, matched 401(k), free lunches, in-office games, birthday celebrations and extracurricular team-building events, this company is unmatched. The culture is amazing here too.”
DocuSign helps make signing and managing documents across enterprises easier with its digital approach, and it also appears to be making it easier to work for them as well. Employees on Glassdoor point to the 20 days of paid time off, snacks and health insurance as major perks of working there.
“So much potential to do important work and have your voice heard by leadership,” wrote one manager in Chicago. “There are a lot of opportunities to grow within your career if you put the effort in. A lot of autonomy and little micromanaging so far.”
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HubSpot is a sales and marketing software company based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but with offices across the globe in locales as far-flung as Dublin, Sydney, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris and Bogota, Colombia. The company has made an annual appearance on Glassdoor’s list of best places to work, making the top 20 almost every year since 2014, and making the list for top CEO each of those years as well except for 2016. One of the better perks? After five years with the company, you can take a full month-long sabbatical to travel or work on personal projects.
“I’ve been at HubSpot now for almost 4 years and there’s nowhere else I’ve even thought about working in that time. Why? HubSpot is a great place to work,” wrote one current Cambridge employee. “I feel like I’m valued. I have a lot of autonomy in how and when and where I work. I feel strongly about the mission of the company. All in all, I’m extremely happy here.”
Power Home Remodeling is a company dedicated to helping improve your home by helping you find ways to save energy, but the business is also dedicated to making work a positive experience for its employees. Not only is there an employee discount, but the company offers health insurance and matches 401(k) contributions up to 5%.
“Getting out of the army and finding a good job was hard for me,” wrote one Outbound Marketer in Atlanta, Georgia, on Glassdoor. “Power is the first place to not only recognize the leadership qualities that veterans have but to also recreate the feeling of commadarie (sic) I felt in the military. It’s hard to put into words, but they somehow make me want to try my best each day.”
Slalom — a Seattle-based business consulting company — has been a staple of Glassdoor’s best places to work list, appearing on it nine times since 2010 and falling outside the top 20 just twice. That’s in addition to appearing on Fortune’s similar list four different times.
“All of the benefits of consulting, without the typical downsides such as long hours and travel,” one Hartford-based consultant gushed on Glassdoor. “Great company culture, senior leaders that listen to their employees and implement changes, good work/life balance, and good compensation and benefits.”
Memphis’ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital offers its employees health benefits, paid time off and a retirement plan with additional life and Aflac insurance. However, many reviews on Glassdoor were focused on the rewarding nature of the work people are doing at this research facility.
“Hands down, the best reasons to work at St. Jude are the kids, our mission, and the people/employees,” wrote one learning and development coordinator. “St. Jude is a wonderfully unique and positive place, choosing to combat childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases with hope, happiness, and resiliency. So many of the employees embody that drive and ideal. The people here know why they’re here; for the patients, what brought them here. “
Intuitive Surgical makes tools and systems, including the da Vinci Xi Surgical System, to support surgeons in more precise surgery and to create fewer negative outcomes. And based on what its employees have to say, it would appear that its human resources department is also functioning with surgical precision. The company touts a health plan and employee stock purchase plan that both ranked No. 1 in 2014’s Towers Watson “High Tech BENVAL Survey of Employee Benefits,” in addition to 401K matching up to $1,500, generous time off schedules and tuition reimbursement.
“Culture is great, everyone is empowered to be themselves,” wrote a product manager from the company’s Sunnyvale, California, home base on Glassdoor. “The technology and the sheer number of different projects going on at the same time are astounding, definitely not a company that’s resting on its laurels even as the market leader in robotic surgery. This is by far the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life, and I love it. All of my colleagues are super sharp and dedicated. You can tell they put a lot of effort into hiring the right people, and it shows with the insanely low turnover rate.”
There are plenty of real selling points for working at Salesforce — the customer relations management software firm — which has been on every Glassdoor best places to work list since 2009 save for a blip in 2015. And when senior employees can expect unlimited vacation and sick time in addition to paid time off for volunteering — a benefit that’s boosted as Salesforce offers the year’s top 100 volunteers $10,000 each to donate to a nonprofit of their choice.
“If you are in the right business area, maintaining a good work/life balance is very easy,” wrote one San Francisco-based senior director on the job review site. “There are some employees spending as much as 50% of their time on volunteer activity — literally logging more than a thousand hours of volunteer time a year. The support that the company offers its employees in times of need is exceptional, and the care and understanding of middle management is genuine. I care for all of my team members well being (sic), and support them personally and professionally as much as possible. So do my colleagues.”
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This might be a bit curious to some given the recent labor disputes between the airline and its mechanic’s union, but those employees rating the company on Glassdoor don’t appear to take serious umbrage with the carrier that selected LUV as its stock ticker. The company has made every Glassdoor best places to work list since 2010 — a year in which it came No. 1 — and has a generous benefits package.
One way that Southwest shows the “luv” to its workers? Matching 401K contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 8.3% to 9.3% as well as an employee stock purchase plan that offers a 10 percent discount on its market price through payroll deductions.
Lululemon is one place that appears to be trying to make its employees as comfortable at work as they would be lounging around at home in a stretchy pair of yoga pants. The company is a relatively recent addition to Glassdoor’s best places to work list — debuting at No. 38 in 2017 — but it has catapulted into the top 10 in 2018 and 2019. The company offers health insurance and paid time off, which should be that much easier to enjoy if you make use of their employee discount for some comfy clothes.
“The environment and energy is wonderful, the culture is fantastic, and you get awesome perks like credits to fitness studios and clothing discounts,” wrote one former employee on Glassdoor.
If you’re not sure why this company is near the top of this list then, well, Google it. The company’s impressive array of perks includes benefits geared toward allowing its employees to start a family, balance their life with their work and stay healthy with a variety of onsite wellness and healthcare services. That’s in addition to a number of opportunities to continue developing yourself as a person and professional.
“Everyone I work with is willing to help when you when you need it, give you advice, support, and (is) overall super friendly,” wrote one inside sales representative on Glassdoor. “The company provides you with a ton of resources, benefits, and I have heard many stories of them helping employees beyond what normal companies would do in special circumstances that shows how much they value you. It is a very transparent workplace that offers employees the ability to speak up and voice their opinions”
If you’re looking for a job where you might not get hassled over checking Facebook or Instagram at work, well, this might be it. This company has been appearing on Glassdoor’s list of the best places to work every year since 2011, including seven top-five finishes in just nine years and coming in first overall three times — a clear sign that its employees sure “like” to work there. The company’s paternity leave is outstanding, offering four full months off for new parents any time before their child’s first birthday in addition to a $4,000 bonus to put toward their new family.
“Let’s start with what’s top of mind for most people — the pay and the perks,” wrote a level five intelligence collector on Glassdoor. “This place pays better than anywhere else I’ve interviewed at in the Bay Area, and that’s just base salary alone. Plus the bonus and restricted stock units? Wow, I don’t think I’m able to leave! The benefits are absolutely stellar. Everything from great food, laundry, concierge desks, best medical/dental/vision (especially if you’re insuring yourself only), 401K matching, after-tax 401(k) (which is rare), wellness reimbursement, spas on campus, you name it. It really is amazing.”
If you ever find yourself looking for a new job on LinkedIn and wondering where the good employers are, you might be missing the forest for the trees. The platform itself has been on Glassdoor’s best places to work list since 2013 and top CEOs for 2014-18. Its benefits include meals and snacks, health insurance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance and access to courses on Lynda.com among a bevy of others. The company also offers each worker a $2,000 a year stipend to be spent on wellness activities.
Consulting firm Boston Consulting Group has made nine of the last 11 best places to work lists on Glassdoor in addition to appearing on Fortune’s similar list as well in the past. The company’s perks are popular, but the company also operates a work-life balance program called PTO for predictability, teaming and open communication that’s geared toward helping employees create a sustainable balance between their home life and their careers.
This California-based provider of cloud-based construction management software has only appeared on two of Glassdoor’s best places to work lists in years past, but after ranking No. 32 in 2017 and missing out entirely in 2018, it rocketed into the top with a No. 4 ranking for 2019. The company offers 100% coverage for health, dental and vision in addition to 401(k) matching and an employee equity plan.
“Tooey (CEO) along with all the other leaders are extremely sharp, friendly and approachable,” wrote a software engineer on Glassdoor. “Leadership is extremely transparent and makes an effort to make sure all employees, no matter how low on the totem pole, know what is going on at the company and what the goals are. For example, a few months after getting started in engineering, the CTO sits down and has a lunch with you and a few other of the recent new hires and answers questions and openly listens to any concerns you have.”
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In the event that the delicious smell of seasoned ground beef sizzling on the grill wafting up to your nose isn’t enough, this California-based burger joint has plenty of other perks to offer — helping it land in the top 10 best places to work on Glassdoor in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Full-time and part-time employees get free meals on work days and access to a 401(k) plan and the company’s defined profit-sharing plan.
“Great first job,” wrote one former employee on Glassdoor. “Showed me how a good company is run and how respectful employers treat empolyee’s (sic).”
Zoom has only recently begun to appear on Glassdoor’s best places to work list, but it’s been in the top five in the two years it has made the list — No. 5 in 2018 and No. 2 in 2019. Among its benefits? Book reimbursement, free meals and activities like Fun Fridays, employee volunteer days and monthly office parties.
“Absolutely blown away by Eric — the CEO,” wrote an account executive on Glassdoor. “Incredible leader, humble, has an open door policy, and is a true team player. The company culture has been built off of those principles and even through the major growth stage the company is at right now, they have still been able to maintain that as the foundation. I am happy to come into work every day and work with people that have quickly become friends. Everyone works hard and has fun doing it. There are also weekly and monthly events to get to know your coworkers out of the office! On top of all that, they love to promote internally, compensation and benefits are amazing, and you get free lunch 4 times a week!”
This is one employer that’s not the bane of its employees’ existence. Not only has this consulting firm been on every best places to work list on Glassdoor since 2009, but it’s been right at the top — finishing no lower than fourth in any year and topping the list on three other occasions before this year. The company touts a range of benefits including a 401(k), paid maternity and paternity leave and generous employer-sponsored options for health coverage.
“I am blown away by the culture of this company and tremendously proud to be a Bainie,” wrote one current executive assistant on Glassdoor. “The talent Bain attracts is both notable and impressive. This company demands a lot but also invests in YOU like no other. The environment is progressive and engaging. You have an opportunity to develop and grow here that … allows you to get as much out of it as you choose to give.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 20 Companies With the Happiest Employees
