4 RI Companies Ranked Among Forbes’ Best Employers

RHODE ISLAND — Workers gave high marks to a handful of companies headquartered in Rhode Island in a survey for Forbes’ 10th anniversary edition of its America’s Best Large Employers and America’s Best Midsize Employers rankings.

The rankings are based primarily on survey responses from more than 217,000 employees working at companies within the U.S. that employ more than 1,000 people. The list for midsize companies includes those with between 1,000 and 5,000 employees. Large companies are those with 5,000 or more workers.

In Rhode Island, Citizens Financial Group, a Providence-based banking and financial services company, made the list at No. 352 for large companies. The company has 17,570 employees.

Three Rhode Island companies made the list for midsize employers. They are:

• No. 119: Hasbro, a toy and games company in Pawtucket
• No. 179: Brown University, a private college in Providence
• No. 184: Gilbane, a construction and real estate development firm in Providence.

Forbes’ said that for 10 years, its best employers lists have tracked companies and organizations as they’ve navigated an era of lightning-speed technological innovation, economic and geopolitical instability, a global pandemic that prompted drastic changes in how and where we do business, and cultural and generational shifts that have amalgamated the composition of the country’s adult workforce.

At the same time, Forbes said, research has shown employees have remained relatively steadfast when asked what they care about most in an employer: compensation, employee development and advancement opportunities, meaningful work, supportive colleagues, and workplace well-being and flexibility.

Most recently, a global survey of business leaders conducted in 2024 by AESC, a membership association for the industry of executive search and leadership consulting, found that the top factors that attract and retain leaders in the United States workforce are, once again, compensation packages and work-life balance.

Forbes and the research firm Statista surveyed 217,000 workers at companies with 1,000 or more employees. They were asked if they would recommend their employer to others and to rate it based on a range of criteria, including salary, work environment, training programs and opportunities to advance. Participants were also asked if they would recommend their previous employers, if within the past two years, and employers they knew through their industry experience or through friends or family who worked there.

The results were tallied and analyzed alongside data from the last three years, which Forbes said allowed for a robust assessment of organizations that consistently ranked well versus those that may have had just one good year. The more recent data and the evaluations from current employees were weighted more heavily than others.

The 1,199 organizations that made the final cut included 490 midsize companies and 701 large companies.

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