The 10 Best Companies for Advancing Your Career

Staff are in excessive demand lately. U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in November, solely a slight drop from October’s variety of 284,000. And whereas unemployment stayed unchanged at 3.7%, wages are 5.1% greater than a yr in the past, The New York Times reports.

Not each employee can have their selection of status corporations. But it surely’s all the time good to know what’s on the market, and which corporations have reputations for serving to staff transfer ahead. A latest report, the American Opportunity Index, examined wage knowledge and job postings at 250 of the biggest U.S. corporations. The aim was to find out which supplied the best job-growth alternatives obtainable to staff each with or with out school levels.

The index makes use of 9 metrics in three classes to evaluate the extent of alternative supplied to staff. Researchers examined entry to work, upward mobility choices and pay.

“We imagine that these three dimensions are the important thing determinants of alternative creation: Staff want to have the ability to get on the ladder, earn sufficient to remain on the ladder, and transfer up the ladder,” the report’s introduction states.

Right here’s a have a look at the highest corporations on that listing.

10. Southwest Airways

Not solely is Southwest Airlines a significant U.S. air provider, it’s the biggest low-cost provider on this planet, using greater than 55,000 folks. The 50-year previous airline topped the transportation sector within the American Alternative Index, the one airline to make the top 30.

It earned reward for profession stability, profession progress, rising expertise and development with out a diploma. And, regardless of all of the turbulence within the airline trade, Southwest has never had a layoff.

Even with all these workers, although, many shoppers have been outraged by the massive number of flight cancellations this holiday season — which Southwest attributed to staffing shortages and dated expertise.

9. Worldwide Paper

International Paper‘s identify says all of it — it’s the world’s largest pulp and paper firm.

The American Alternative Index ranked it excessive for profession progress and profession stability. It has received different honors, too, just lately putting at No. 29 out of 100 on Foundry’s Computerworld’s listing of the best places to work in IT.

8. Liberty Mutual

Boston-based Liberty Mutual is a world insurance coverage firm and the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer within the U.S. The nonprofit group Volunteers of America recently highlighted the corporate for paying its workers to do volunteer work, with a particular give attention to psychological well being, meals and housing insecurity and youth homelessness.

The American Alternative Index scored Liberty Mutual excessive for rising expertise, development with out a diploma and as a profession launchpad. In actual fact, the index notes that more than 80% of managerial positions are crammed by inside workers.

7. HF Sinclair

HF Sinclair Corporation, a Dallas-based diversified power firm, took the No. 7 spot on the index.

Whereas it’s one of many smaller corporations on the listing, with simply 4,200 workers, it ranked excessive for rising expertise and was cited as an organization the place workers can advance without a college degree. It’s the top-ranked firm within the oil, fuel and mining sector.

6. Fiserv

The “fi” in “Fiserv” comes from “monetary,” because it supplies monetary expertise companies to purchasers throughout the monetary companies sector. The Wisconsin-based firm was ranked No. 6 total on the index, nevertheless it took the highest spot within the enterprise companies sector and was No. 2 in expertise, the place it’s behind solely international big Microsoft.

Fiserv scored effectively for profession stability, as a profession launchpad and for development with out a diploma. And it has formidable plans to increase its revenue margin within the fourth quarter, its CEO said in December 2022.

5. Microsoft

Powerhouse expertise firm Microsoft scored excessive for profession stability, rising expertise and development with out a diploma.

Imagine it or not, co-founder Invoice Gates, now operating the Invoice & Melinda Gates Basis, additionally superior with out a diploma — he dropped out of Harvard after two years and began the corporate along with his good friend Paul Allen.

4. PG&E

PG&E, or Pacific Fuel and Electrical Firm, is an American investor-owned utility offering pure fuel and electrical energy. It companies 5.5 million electrical accounts and 4.5 million pure fuel accounts in Northern and Central California. The corporate earned its No. 4 spot on the index because of excelling in profession stability, as a profession launchpad and for development with out a diploma.

3. Cisco Methods

Cisco Systems is a expertise conglomerate that develops, manufactures and sells networking {hardware}, software program, telecommunications tools and different high-tech companies and merchandise.

The American Alternative Index ranked it excessive for rising expertise, profession stability, as a profession launchpad and for development with out a diploma. Along with its excessive rank right here, it topped Fortune’s listing of the 100 best companies to work for in both 2021 and 2022.

2. American Categorical

You most likely can image the inexperienced American Categorical card, or keep in mind its “don’t depart residence with out them” traveler’s test slogan (later modified to “don’t leave home without it,” and used for the cardboard).

American Express is a multinational company specializing in fee card companies. Along with rating No. 2 total, it topped the index’s funds and banks and lenders sectors, and was highlighted for rising expertise and development with out a diploma.

1. AT&T

And at No. 1 on the index is AT&T, the multinational telecommunications holding firm.

It’s the world’s largest telecommunications firm by income and the third-largest supplier of cellular phone companies within the U.S. The index scored AT&T particularly effectively for profession progress, as a profession launchpad, for rising expertise and for development with out a diploma.

In actual fact, AT&T senior executive vice president Angela Santone said that lower than 5% of the corporate’s positions require a school diploma. And the corporate is rising: Fortune reports that AT&T added 3.2 million telephone subscribers in 2021, “a tally that exceeded its internet new prospects gained within the earlier 10 years mixed.”