Southwest Airlines has been voted No. 1 on a new Employees' Choice list of the Best Places to Work.
The list by Glassdoor.com is based on employee evaluations.
Nearly 75,000 employees reviewed some 11,000 companies in a 20-question survey. The questions covered everything from compensation and benefits to employee morale and respect.
It should be noted that the survey could be considered more of a popularity contest than a scientifically prepared list. The surveys are part of a voluntary process.
Southwest Airlines is the only North Texas company on the list this year (which we find hard to believe), but the Dallas-based airline didn't crack the top 50 last year.
So what changed in a year? We're not saying companies gamed the system, we've heard before that Southwest Airlines is a great place to work, and we all know bags are happy because they fly free.
A closer look at the list shows the No. 3 business this year, Slalom Consulting, didn't make the list at all last year. Same for Kraft Foods, which is No. 12 this year. Perhaps there was a greater awareness of the list and the methodology this year?
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NIKE, which was No. 22 in 2008 didn't make this year's list at all, but don't blame Tiger for that.
The top 50 had to have at least 25 reviews from U.S.-based employees, "satisfied" ratings overall in all categories and a CEO with at least a 50 percent approval rating.
So we question the second annual Employee's Choice list.
And we're not even going to get into the companies that according to the Glassdoor press release "have the dubious distinction of being the lowest rated," because it could be argued that employees didn't step up and speak up about where they work, or if they did, it may have only been negative feedback.
Glassdoor.com's Web site said it is "a career and workplace community where anyone can find and anonymously share salary details about specific jobs for specific employers or company and interview reviews describing life on the inside of an employer — all for free."
