Looking to start the new year with a new job? Glassdoor, by way of Sanjay Salomon at Boston.com, has a list of the “50 Best Places to Work for 2014.” Glassdoor compiled the list based on analysis of more than a half million anonymous responses to surveys of current and former employees of companies with 1,000 or more workers. And Boston.com also has advice on what jobs to avoid.
In test, measurement, model-based design, and simulation fields, National Instruments came in at #28. Glassdoor quotes an applications engineer art NI as saying, “Great place to start a career, lots of options and opportunity for growth. It’s easy to find roles that stay interesting. Work-life balance is encouraged frequently.”
MathWorks came in at #22. “Lots of interesting projects, collaboration with other teams, and an opportunity to shine. A culture of respecting and investing in each other. Great work environment with individual offices, new facilities, and many perks,” said a marketing manager.
Web, cloud-computing, virtualization, and related software companies were very well represented on the list: Salesforce.com (50), eBay (49), network storage provider NetApp (41), Citrix Systems (38), CareerBuilder (37), Rackspace (30), Red Hat (23), Intuit (19), network optimization company Riverbed Technology (17), Orbitz (9), Google (8), call-center software provider Interactive Intelligence (7), insurance-industry software provider Guidewire (6), Facebook (5), LinkedIn (3), and Twitter (2).
Semiconductor companies Intel (33), Texas Instruments (45), Qualcomm (13) all made the list. Among other technology firms, Apple made the list at #35, as did solar-energy company SolarCity, at #18, and technical reference provider Cameron, at #24.
Consultancies and research firms also made the list, including Gartner (20), Slalom Consulting (15), and public-relations firm Edelman (12). And management consultancy Bain & Company took the #1 spot.
Healthcare was also represented, with medical device maker Stryker listed at #48 and biotechnology company Genentech at #25. Memorial Sloan-Kettering made the list at #46, and Mayo Clinic came in at #31.
And of course traditional firms are increasingly adopting technology and thereby creating jobs for tech professionals. John Deere made the list at #11, and a software development engineer notes that the “company has been around for 175 years and has great business prospects for the future.”
Outside of technology, it's interesting that some fast-food restaurant and retail companies made the list, despite the bad press those sectors have been getting over low pay, poor benefits, and long holiday hours. Texas Roadhouse came in at #47, Chick-fil-A at #43, Starbucks at #39, and Costco Wholesale at #16. Glassdoor notes that “Costco Wholesale saw the most improvement from last year’s Top Places to Work list, climbing 30 spots from number 46 in 2013.” Glassdoor quotes a recent employee as saying, “Good starting pay. Great benefits, even for part timers. Clean and comfortable environment to work at. Paid vacation and sick days. On Sunday Costco pays you time and a half.”
View the complete list with worker commentary for each company here or visit Glassdoor for more company reviews.
With help from CareerCast.com, Boston.com also recently took a look at the 10 worst occupations of 2013, which you can view here. Don't worry—engineering did not make the list. If you're thinking of becoming a meter reader or newspaper reporter, though, you might want to reconsider.