2006 Best Places to Work in IT
Best Places to Work in IT - Company Scorecard
In January 2006, companies nominated for Computerworld's Best Places to Work for IT list received a 100-question survey asking about their organizations' average salary and bonus increases, percentage of IT staff promoted, IT staff turnover rates, training and development programs, and the percentages of women and minorities in IT staff and management positions. In addition, information was collected on each organization's method of rewarding outstanding performance, its retention programs and its benefits, ranging from child and elder care to flextime and reimbursement for college tuition and technology certifications. Here's a look at the aggregate data from those 100 winning companies.
The top 10 lists below show the very best of the best — the companies that excel in five areas of employment: diversity, training, career development, retention and benefits. To determine the top 10 lists, we considered the following factors:
Diversity: Percentage of women and minorities in staff and managerial positions.
Training: Average number of training days and average cost of training per IT worker per year.
Career development: Mentoring programs and tuition reimbursement for college classes and technical certifications.
Retention: Frequency of employee satisfaction surveys, turnover rate, promotions and corporate communication initiatives.
Benefits: A range of benefits, including sabbaticals, health vision benefits (percentage paid for by company) and long-term care.
The Tops
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Best Places for Diversity 1. University of Miami 2. Miami-Dade County 3. Fairfax County Government 4. The Capital Group Cos. 5. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 6. Hilton Hotels Corp. 7. Southern California Edison 8. MemorialCare Medical Centers 9. University of Pennsylvania 10. Marriott International Inc. Best Places for Training 1. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 2. Saint Luke's Health System Inc. 3. University of Miami 4. The Capital Group Cos. 5. The Mitre Corp. 6. Verizon Wireless 7. University of Pennsylvania 8. Ford Motor Co. 9. Infosys Technologies Ltd. 10. Hilton Hotels Corp. Best Places for Career Development 1. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. 2. Cerner Corp. 3. University of Miami 4. American Fidelity Assurance Co. 5. General Mills Inc. 6. Hilton Hotels Corp. 7. Philip Morris USA Inc. 8. Principal Financial Group Inc. 9. Publix Super Markets Inc. 10. Ernst & Young Best Places for Retention 1. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 2. Calence LLC 3. University of Miami 4. Quicken Loans Inc. 5. The Reader's Digest Association Inc. 6. SAS Institute Inc. 7. Sharp HealthCare 8. American Fidelity Assurance Co. 9. Grant Thornton LLP 10. Standard Pacific Corp. Best Places for Benefits 1. SAS Institute Inc. 2. Discovery Communications Inc. 3. Quicken Loans Inc. 4. Verizon Wireless 5. General Mills Inc. 6. Philip Morris USA Inc. 7. Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. 8. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 9. BAE Systems Information Technology 10. Sharp HealthCare The Typical Best Place... By the Numbers $10.5 Billion in revenue 78 Years in business 32,001 Total number of employees 1,052 Total number of IT employees 34% Percentage of IT staff members who are women 32% Percentage of IT managers who are women 25% Percentage of IT staff members who are minorities 15% Percentage of IT managers who are minorities $295.3 Million IT budget $1,943 Spent per IT employee on training 7 Training days offered annually for IT staff 42 Hours is the average workweek More Statistics of Note 32% Have merged with or acquired companies, or divested business units since Jan. 1, 2005   14% Have an acquisition, merger or divestiture now pending 90% Have budgeted for salary increases for IT employees in 2006, on average by 4% 76% Have budgeted for bonuses for IT employees in 2006 8% IT staff turnover for the latest fiscal year, on average 11% IT staff promoted in the latest fiscal year, on average 57% Said their training budgets per IT employee will increase in 2006 compared with 2005 87% Were profitable in 2005 37% Had layoffs in 2005 Hiring Forecast 
Where Are They? 
What They Do Finance industry: 12% Insurance/real estate industry: 11% Health services industry: 8% Education: 5% Transportation and logistics: 5% All other industries: 59% Flexible Schedules and Formal Feedback For the second year in a row, flexible work hours and work/life balance programs finished third and fourth, respectively, among the top retention methods used by Best Places companies. Competitive salaries and benefits consistently top that list. Feedback goes both ways for nearly half of Best Places companies: 44% of IT employees formally evaluate their managers each year. And a majority of companies (63%) report grooming the next-generation of IT with formal mentoring programs. Top Five Benefits Offered Highest percentages of companies that offer Paid vacation 100% Health insurance 100% Flexible hours 99% Employee assistance programs 96% Pretax programs for uncovered medical expenses 96% Bottom Five Benefits Offered Lowest percentages of companies that offer Paternity leave (beyond the Family Leave Act) 30% On-site concierge 28% Company-subsidized child care 27% Backup child care 26% Paid sabbaticals 10% Top Five Retention Methods 1. Competitive salaries 2. Competitive benefits 3. Flexible work hours 4. Work/life balance programs, such as telecommuting 5. Tuition reimbursement Top Five Company-sponsored Activities 1. Company gatherings (company picnics, holiday parties) 2. Open forums with company management 3. Personal/wellness development opportunities 4. Support for community service 5. Community/team building |