Google again tops Fortune’s list of best places to work

Internet giant Google has been named the best place to work for the sixth year in a row by Fortune magazine, which published its annual list of the top 100 companies for employees.

It is the eighth time in 11 years Google has claimed the top spot on the annual list.

A survey of employees showed 98 percent of Google workers said they work in a “great atmosphere” and 97 percent said the work they do presents “great challenges.”

Ninety-seven percent said they have “special and unique benefits” – and it’s no wonder. The $74 billion Mountain View, Calif.-based company offers perks including childcare, free haircuts and laundry service and gourmet food. Recently, the company revised its parental policies after it found working mothers were leaving Google at a higher rate than other employees. A more generous policy for parental leave reduced the rate of defection among working mothers by 50 percent, Fortune reported.

No. 2 on the list is another perennial top-five, Rochester, N.Y.-based grocery store chain Wegmans. The family-owned chain with 90 stores throughout the Northeast offers a tuition reimbursement plan for college-aged employees, a free cake on workers’ birthdays and other perks, including hot chocolate breaks for staff required to work outdoors during the winter.

The remainder of the top five was The Boston Consulting Group, Baird and Edward Jones.

UPI