Trader Joe's
On an evening in May in Salem, Oregon, three high school seniors walked in a graduation ceremony—on a Trader Joe’s loading dock.
The students, participants in the grocery chain’s My First Job Program, which offers new workforce entrants the opportunity to gain on-the-job experience and skills, had seen their graduations canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Their manager wanted to mark the special occasion.
“We’re a big family, and we could feel how sad they were,” says Steffi Derobertis, captain of the Trader Joe’s in Salem. “Everything was so stressful at the beginning of Covid . . . it was something to celebrate.”
And so, donning gowns (and masks) sewn from the same material as the chain’s Hawaiian-shirt uniform and caps crafted from brown-paper bags, they accepted mock diplomas.
The Salem store wasn’t alone in welcoming student employees into the workforce with such pomp and circumstance; similar ceremonies took place at Trader Joe’s locations across the country. “These little things don’t seem like much, but they mean a lot to us as a company and to our crew members working in neighborhood stores,” says Dionne Morris, executive vice president of stores in the Midwest at Trader Joe’s. “For recent graduates, the benefits and compensation do draw them to us, but the experience they have while working for us is so fulfilling that they want to stay.”
When 70% of Millennials and 74% of Gen-Zers value purpose over paycheck, it’s no wonder why Trader Joe’s is considered by many recent graduates to be an employer of choice.
“Recent grads, more than anything, are really driven by impact. They want to be at a place where they can see the difference they can make.”
Forbes teamed up with market research company Statista to identify the companies most liked by new workforce entrants in our annual ranking of America’s best employers for new graduates. The list was compiled by surveying 20,000 Americans with less than 10 years professional experience working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. Surveys were conducted from March to June, and responses regarding the same employers were compared to that which were collected for Forbes’ previous rankings of best employers, so as to account for any statistically significant variations in the results collected before and during the coronavirus pandemic. The ranking features some companies whose appearance on this list, in light of recent events, might come as a surprise, but they are a reflection of the feeling of their own workforces at the time they were surveyed.
Trader Joe’s, for example, ranks in the No. 2 spot, despite having seen the passing of one employee due to Covid-19 and reports of inconsistent corporate communications and safety measures, especially in the early days of the pandemic. Since then, the chain has been updating stores on a weekly basis regarding how it’s responding to the latest CDC guidelines through protocols to promote social distancing, wellness checks at the start of employees’ shifts, and benefits, including pay increases of $2 an hour and up to 90 days of voluntary medical leave.
“As things have changed, so has our approach, but the organization’s goal has been, and always will be, consistent messaging to make sure everyone is on the same page,” says Kenya Friend-Daniel, national director of public relations at Trader Joe’s.
After earning the No. 1 spot on last year’s list, Trader Joe’s ceded the title of top employer for new graduates to fellow grocer Whole Foods, which rose 39 positions since 2019. While the Amazon-owned business did end hazard pay in June, it later gave full-time frontline workers a $500 bonus (part-time workers received $250) and pledged to match 100% of donations made to its $3.34 million relief fund, available to employees experiencing financial distress as a result of the pandemic, in addition to taking many of the steps Trader Joe’s has to ensure safe working conditions. Those initiatives, coupled with career development and volunteer programs, as well as a commitment to environmentally friendly practices and products, has helped attract new workforce entrants.
Merck
Some of the employers that make up this list seem to have been spared from the worst effects of the pandemic. Merck, for example, which ranks in the No. 4 spot, up from No. 37 in 2019, has been able to retain its entire workforce. The pharmaceutical company, which has been developing a vaccine for Covid-19, also maintained its summer internship program; 500 students and recent graduates gained remote-work experience, and more than 90 earned full-time job offers. New workforce entrants can apply for rotational programs such as the General Management Acceleration Program, through which they’ll have the opportunity to work in departments across the company and participate in leadership development training and mentoring.
“Part of our strategy is making sure people have development opportunities and can grow,” says Carl Segerstrom, chief talent officer at Merck. “We need the best people, and we need to get the best out of them, and great people enjoy being challenged.”
Meanwhile, other organizations have seen their businesses upended. Southwest Airlines, for instance, rose 28 spots to rank No. 11, even as the coronavirus brought the travel industry to a standstill. In a July letter to employees, CEO Gary Kelly wrote, “We have no intention of seeking furloughs, layoffs, pay rate cuts or benefits cuts through at least the end of this year.” At the time of the statement, though, 28% of Southwest workers had reportedly already taken a voluntary leave of absence or early retirement package.
Similarly, JetBlue Airways, which improved its standing by two spots to rank No. 15, in July reached an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association to avoid involuntary furloughs until May 2021—this after the airline reportedly reduced workers’ hours. JetBlue has also lost eight employees to Covid-19, with CEO Robin Hayes addressing the deaths in the company’s first- and second-quarter earnings calls.
And yet, it’s likely that respondents to our survey considered the chance to see the world, as well as Southwest’s commitment to profit sharing—which earned employees $667 million in 2019—and JetBlue’s Scholars program—which offers workers career development and continuing education—to be attractive.
Among the most surprising employers to rank highly on this year’s list may very well be Carnival, which finds itself in the No. 5 spot after ranking No. 226 in 2019. Like Southwest and JetBlue, Carnival does offer workers the chance to travel, an attractive perk for those early in their careers. And through benefits such as Camp Carnival—a daycare and education program for employees’ children—and partnerships with organizations including Catalyst, the Executive Leadership Council and the Hispanic Association On Corporate Responsibility, the cruise line has sought to cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment.
But Carnival, like most every travel company, has not been immune to the effects of Covid-19.
The common spaces and close quarters characteristic of cruise ships can make them ideal settings for outbreaks, and that was certainly the case at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. While Carnival suspended operations in March, many crew members were unable to disembark from the ships for weeks. In May, the company announced furloughs and layoffs, as well as salary reductions for executives.
“Taking these extremely difficult employees actions involving our highly dedicated workforce is a very tough thing to do,” Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival, said in a statement at the time. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary, given the current low level of guest operations and to further endure this pause.”
Carnival, which has reportedly seen more than 1,500 passengers and crew members diagnosed with Covid-19 and dozens die from the virus (numbers regarding employees specifically have not been released), is currently the subject of a congressional investigation into its response to the pandemic. In a statement, the company said, “Our goal is the same as the committee's goal: to protect the health, safety and well-being of our guests and crew, along with compliance and environmental protection.”
Not to be forgotten, of course, are those employers whose appearances on lists such as this have become commonplace. Facebook ranks No. 20 after coming in at No. 197 last year, in spite of reports of backlash from employees over free-speech policies on its platform, as well as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint filed in July by a Black employee alleging racial discrimination.
“Facebook as a company acknowledges that systemic racism is real, and we have a sense of accountability to fight racial injustice,” says Carolyn McCusker, head of university recruiting at Facebook. “New graduates are very much a part of offering solutions and ideas in this effort.”
Similarly, Google, which ranks nine spots lower year-over-year at No. 39, has seen more than 1,600 employees sign a petition calling on the company to stop selling software to the police amid the Black Lives Matter movement and allegations that the tech giant rolled back diversity and inclusion initiatives. “Any notion that we’re reducing our investment in diversity, equity and inclusion is completely false,” says Kyle Ewing, director of talent and outreach programs at Google. “Sundar is vocal about the impact we make and are making.”
At the end of the day, when 51% of Generation Z aspires to work in tech and 62% believe they have the potential to change the world, it isn’t hard to see why they remain as interested in these employers as ever. “Recent grads, more than anything, are really driven by impact,” Ewing says. “They want to be at a place where they can see the difference they can make.”
For the full list of America’s Best Employers For New Graduates, click here.
Methodology
To determine the list, Statista surveyed 20,000 Americans with less than 10 years’ professional experience working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. All the surveys were anonymous, allowing participants to openly share their opinions. The respondents were asked to rate their employers on a variety of criteria, including safety of work environment, competitiveness of compensation, opportunities for advancement, effectiveness of diversity and inclusion efforts and openness to telecommuting. Statista then asked respondents how likely they’d be to recommend their employer to others, and to nominate organizations in industries outside their own. The final list ranks the 250 employers that received the most recommendations.
