Meet America’s Best Employers For New Graduates 2021

The summer before her sophomore year at Purdue University, Brittany Gonzales landed a full-time job at Chicago-based home care business Help At Home. Though she accepted a caregiver role to earn some extra cash, she soon fell in love with the work—so much so that she changed her major from childhood education to child and family services in the hopes of staying with the company after graduation. 

“[The leadership] wants their people to be successful, and they groom you to eventually take their place,” Gonzales says. “That was not what my friends were experiencing in the companies they were working for. I realized that was something very special, and I didn’t want to leave it.”

In the year after graduating in December 2015, Gonzales says she received three promotions. This focus on upward mobility has landed Help At Home at No. 8 on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers For New Graduates. Forbes teamed up with market research company Statista to identify the companies most liked by new workforce entrants in our annual ranking. The list was compiled by surveying 20,000 Americans with less than ten years’ professional experience working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. 

This year’s list is pertinent not only to the class of 2021, but also to last year’s graduates, 45% of who are still looking for work, a recent Monster survey finds. Some 85% worry they’ll miss out on professional experiences—like in-person co-worker connection and mentorship—because they entered the workforce during the pandemic.

The pandemic has contributed to notable shifts in the workplace, some of which are reflected in the industries that make up the 2021 list. Last year’s ranking featured 36 companies in the restaurants or travel and leisure industries. This year, just 13 made the cut. After snagging first place in 2020, Whole Foods dropped to No. 56. But Trader Joe’s, which took second place last year, managed to maintain high marks, coming in at a respectable No. 5 this time around.

Pharmaceutical company Merck took the top spot in the ranking this year, followed by Southwest Airlines (No. 2) and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (No. 3). For those who aren’t quite ready to leave college life behind, the latter is a perfect fit, says Suzanne Farmer, the university’s assistant vice president of organizational development and training.

“People want to graduate and learn and keep learning from this academic place. It’s like staying in school,” she says. “It’s very much a learning place where you can grow your career.”

In addition to its nurse residency program, new graduates are also given opportunities to work with the university’s researchers and faculty. Six business resource groups—including those for LGBTQ employees and allies, women and allies, veterans, Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander employees—seek to foster diversity and inclusion, while early-career mentoring and leadership development programs are designed to provide guidance, Farmer says.

Hard Rock International (No. 7) offers something similar. The restaurant, hotel and casino chain has leadership development programs for employees at different levels, from rookie supervisors to senior managers. Each worker who goes through these programs is paired with a mentor to guide their career growth, says Meaghan Ryan, vice president of global talent and team member relations for Seminole Hard Rock support services.

In addition to the free food and onsite nurse offered at many Hard Rock properties, new graduates can also take advantage of its tuition reimbursement program, should they want to continue their studies. The company offers up to $4,000 per year for work-related courses and degree programs, Ryan says.

At health technology company Philips (No. 6), recent graduates aren’t attracted to the perks as much as they are to the mission, says Mark Woodrum, Philips’ head of campus recruiting for the Americas. Yes, the company offers rotational programs that allow new hires to try out a variety of roles during their first two years, but for many, the name Philips is the draw.

Woodrum recalls a story of an employee who, as a baby, was diagnosed with a heart defect by a doctor who had used a Philips ultrasound machine. After graduating from college and spending a summer interning in the company’s ultrasound department, he now works there full time, Woodrum says.

“Today’s graduates want more than the job,” he says. “They want to be part of a company that is making the world a better place.” 

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 ten 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 company image. Statista then asked respondents how likely they would be to recommend their employer to others, and to nominate organizations outside of their own. The final list ranks the 250 employers that received the most recommendations.