Forbes Names 2021 Top Employers In North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA — The 2021 Forbes list of the best employers has been released, with specific rankings for North Carolina, as well as the other 49 states and the District of Columbia.

The best employer in North Carolina is Microsoft, according to Forbes’ list issued this week.

Duke University, SAS Institute, North Carolina State University in Raleigh and Merck & Co. round out the top five in the rankings for North Carolina.

Nationally, Target and the U.S. Postal Service appeared on the Forbes list of top employers in 32 states, tied for the most among any employers.

Bank of America, Home Depot and the U.S. Department of Defense are ranked in 29 states, Walmart in 27, FedEx in 26 and UPS in 25.

Forbes partnered with the market research company Statista to survey 80,000 Americans who work for businesses that have at least 500 employees, the survey’s methodology states. The surveys were conducted from October 2020 to June 2021, accounting for some changes companies have made due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Microsoft, for one, has moved to adopt a hybrid work model even after the pandemic ends, according to Forbes’ report. The tech giant founded by Bill Gates had the No. 1 spot in four states on the lists.

Costco Wholesale tied with Microsoft in states where it holds the top ranking.

Although the pandemic hit the health care, education and retail industries among the hardest, employers in those fields dominated the rankings, Forbes said. They combined to account for 41 percent of the full 2021 list, compared with 38 percent when the 2020 list came out.