These Are America's Best Employers For 2017: Forbes

Forbes has the verdict on which company is America's best employer, and the company that takes the number one spot might be a slight surprise to you.

No it's not Google — which finished in second place — but rather Costco, the wholesale retailer. As Forbes notes, the company has not fallen below third place over the past three years, and a big perk offered by the company is health insurance for part-time employees.

In third place is Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, marking the first appearance for the company on Forbes' list. And its place on the list is likely to do with the company's unique ownership structure. As explained in Forbes, REI is a consumer cooperative, and anyone who pays the one-time $20 membership fee and spends at least $10 a year receives an annual dividend.

Costco, Google and REI rank at the top on Forbes' list of 500 best large employers. To compile the rankings, Forbes split employers into two groups, mid-sized — companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees — and large employers — companies with 5,000 or more employees.

Topping the list of America's best mid-sized employers was Lush, the indulgent retail cosmetics brand. Though the company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, it operates 200 locations in the United States.

"According to respondents, Lush employees were most taken with the company’s image, its diversity, and to a lesser extent its working conditions," says Forbes.

Rackspace, a cloud computing company based in Texas, came in second. And in third place is New Seasons Market, a privately owned Portland, Oregon-based chain of grocery stores. The company leaped to third place after being 42nd on the list in 2016.

To compile the rankings, Forbes worked with research firm Statista. The firm surveyed 30,000 American workers to collect opinions on the companies they work for. The most important factor in determining the rankings were how likely employers were to recommend their company to friends and family. Employees were also asked to recommend other companies, which also factored into the rankings, but to a lesser degree.

According to Forbes, America's best large employers are:

1. Costco Wholesale, based in Issaquah, Washington
2. Google, based in Mountain View, California
3. REI, based in Kent, Washington
4. Memorial Hermann Health System, based in Houston, Texas
5. United Service Automobile Association, based in San Antonio Texas
6. MD Anderson Cancer Center, based in Houston, Texas
7. Penn Medicine, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota
9. City of Austin, Austin, Texas
10. Wegmans Food Markets, based in Rochester, New York

>>>See the full list here.

According to Forbes, America's best mid-sized employers are:

1. LUSH
2. Rackspace Hosting, based in San Antonio, Texas
3. New Seasons Market, based in Portland, Oregon
4. Celgene, based in Summit, New Jersey
5. National Credit Union Administration, based in Alexandria, Virginia
6. Slalom Consulting, based in Stamford, Connecticut
7. Gartner, based in Seattle, Washington
8. Georgetown University, based in Washington, D.C.
9. CDM Smith, based in Boston
10. JM Family Enterprises, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida

>>>See the full list here.

Did your employer make the list? Let us know in the comments below.

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