Five RI Employers Make Forbes 'Best' List

JOHNSTON, RI — Amid statistics about declining unemployment rates and talk about more jobs coming, many Ocean State residents still drive to Massachusetts to find a job and a decent salary. They're really onto something, it turns out. According to the newest "America's Best Employers List" from Forbes, 42 Massachusetts firms were ranked with the nation's best. By contrast, only five Rhode Island companies made the cut.

Here are Rhode Island's best large-sized employers per Forbes with their national ranking. There are only two.

FM Global, Johnston (Insurances). National Rank: 112

Textron, Providence (Aerospace & Defense). National Rank: 490

But three more RI employers made another Forbes list, the best mid-sized employers. Hasbro, Brown University and Ocean State Job Lot made the cut.

Hasbro, Pawtucket (Packaged Goods) National Rank: 27

Brown University, Providence (Education) National Rank: 107

Ocean State Job Lot, North Kingstown (Retail Wholesale) National Rank: 112

Fifteen Massachusetts companies were named among the top 500 large employers in the nation, while 27 were named among the top 301 midsized employers. Are you lucky enough to work for one of them? (See the lists below,)

The Bay State's top large company is Partners HealthCare System, which came in at No. 49 nationally. The Boston company employs more than 68,000 people. The state's top mid-sized company is CDM Smith – which came in No. 9 nationally – "a full-service engineering and construction firm" that employs 5,000.
Nationally, it was Costco, the wholesale retailer, that claimed the top spot on Forbes' large employers list. 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, midsized — 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 midsized 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.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Boston Patch.

SUBSCRIBE

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.
The Massachusetts companies that made the list of best large employers (along with their national ranking) are:

• #49 Partners HealthCare System, Boston
• #67 John Hancock Financial, Boston
• #68 Harvard University, Cambridge
• #85 MIT, Cambridge
• #89 Fidelity Investments, Boston
• #134 Bose, Framingham
• #169 MITRE Corporation, Bedford
• #175 Raytheon, Waltham
• #272 Demoulas Super Markets, Tewksbury
• #274 Yankee Candle, Deerfield
• #284 Philips Healthcare, Andover
• #293 Schneider Electric, Andover
• #309 National Grid USA, Waltham
• #335 Boston Scientific, Marlborough
• #374 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Marlborough

As for midsized employers, Forbes says America's best 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, Massachusetts
10. JM Family Enterprises, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida

>>>See the full list here.
The Massachusetts companies that made the list of best midsized employers include:

• #9 CDM Smith, Boston
• #12 Tufts Health Plan, Watertown
• #16 Boston College, Chestnut Hill
• #18 Biogen, Cambridge
• #21 Mathworks, Cambridge
• #22 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston
• #23 Boston Consulting Group, Boston
• #39 Wayfair, Boston
• #57 TripAdvisor, Needham
• #60 Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Dedham
• #73 Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston
• #77 Bain & Co, Boston
• #88 Zoll Medical, Chelmsford
• #93 New Balance, Boston
• #102 athenahealth, Watertown
• #129 Kronos, Chelmsford
• #137 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston
• #146 Springfield Public Schools, Springfield
• #156 Tufts University, Medford
• #197 Meditech, Westwood
• #205 LPL Financial Holdings, Boston
• #207 PAREXEL International, Waltham
• #211 Boston Medical Center, Boston
• #220 Akamai Technologies, Cambridge
• #244 Hanover Insurance Group, Worcester
• #251 Tufts Medical Center, Boston
• #276 Hologic, Marlborough

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

Image via Shutterstock

Feroze Dhanoa (Patch National Staff) and Mike Carraggi (Patch National Staff) contributed to this report / Image via Shutterstock