After a tumultuous year, Facebook has lost its footing as a top-rated employer, based on Glassdoor's 2019 list of the "Best Places to Work." After ranking No. 1 last year, Facebook now ranks seventh, dropping from a 4.6 to 4.5 award score out of a perfect 5.
Zoom Video Communications supplanted Facebook as the top seat in the tech category.
The report comes as Facebook continues to be scrutinized by the public for how it handles user data and misinformation on its platform. The Glassdoor ranking adds data to the speculation that Facebook employees, too, are souring on the company. Glassdoor bases its ranking on eight factors, including work/life balance, senior management and compensation and benefits. On employee satisfaction alone, Facebook has seen a steeper decline, steadily falling from a 4.6 rating in Q1 to a 4.3 in Q4, according to Glassdoor community expert Scott Dobroski.
"Facebook employees talked about the 'move fast' culture sometimes moving too fast," Dobroski said in an interview with CNBC. He noted that this is the first time Facebook has seen a decline in its award score since 2015. Facebook employees on Glassdoor said they wanted a more robust internal structure and transparency from the company's leadership. "Its not a major surprise considering what's been going on with Facebook. Employees want to be kept in the loop," Dobroski said.
Facebook has gone from a hot place to work to a place many employees are itching to leave. Six former Facebook employees told CNBC they have been receiving increasingly more messages from current Facebook employees looking for a way out. They said employees have been motivated to look elsewhere thanks to falling stock prices, continued scandals and the increased bureaucracy that comes with the maturing of any tech company.
Other tech companies have also fallen from top spots on Glassdoor's list. Google dropped three spots, landing at eighth place with an award score of 4.4. Amazon still hasn't made it onto the list since Glassdoor first began publishing it in 2009. This year, Amazon had an award score of 4.1, just outside of the top 100.
Apple, on the other hand, moved up, from No. 84 to 71, though it maintained the same score of 4.3. Microsoft moved up from No. 39 to 34 although its award score dropped from 4.4 to 4.3.
