California-based tech giants dominate the list of companies where workers feel most satisfied with their pay, according to Comparably's sixth annual report based on employee reviews.
Coming in at No. 1, Adobe employees report being happy with their compensation across pay, benefits, bonus structures, equity and more. The Comparably report takes a look at anonymous employee ratings submitted to the reviews site from September 2021 to September 2022.
There's no shortage of macroeconomic reasons to be less satisfied with your pay these days, from skyrocketing inflation to a tumultuous stock market deflating equity, says Jason Nazar, Comparably's CEO and founder.
The companies that have remained at the top of this year's list have upped the ante to continue paying competitively, especially in a tight hiring market and inflationary period, as well as offer more expansive perks to support workers' interests and wellbeing.
Here are the top 15 companies where workers feel happiest with their pay:
- Adobe: San Jose, California
- RingCentral: Belmont, California
- Meta: Menlo Park, California
- Microsoft: Redmond, Washington
- Google: Mountain View, California
- ZipRecruiter: Santa Monica, California
- Medallia: San Francisco, California
- Chegg: Santa Clara, California
- Palo Alto Networks: Santa Clara, California
- Boston Consulting Group: Boston, Massachusetts
- Snap Inc.: Santa Monica, California
- SAP: Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
- Squarespace: New York, New York
- IBM: Armonk, New York
- Calix: San Jose, California
Top-rated companies responded to inflation, well-being and stock volatility
Many companies have increased their pay and compensation in order to stay competitive in a tight hiring market. Others have also pointed the need to raise pay to outpace inflation, which can sour employee morale. For example, No. 4 Microsoft said that beginning July 1, it would nearly double its budget for employee salary increases and boost stock compensation to help workers cope with inflation.
But workers want to feel supported beyond their paycheck. At No. 1 Adobe, one employee notes in their review that they value the company's coverage of some child-care costs until the age of 6. Meanwhile, a Microsoft employee notes that the "salary is excellent," and they enjoy a flexible benefits package including a spending account to claim back for hobbies, family care, dog-walking and more.
Top companies have also been able to persevere through a volatile stock market. "The biggest trend we see is that as the overall stock market has been affected, so too does people's perspective of their compensation," Nazar says. "Companies that have performed better through the last year have had the advantage of their team members feeling better about their compensation."
Notably, early-pandemic success stories including Peloton and Zoom, which suffered their own rise and fall in stock valuation over the past year, fell out of the top 15 list for 2022.
Workers place more value in salary transparency
Beyond pay itself, workers also expect a greater deal of pay transparency from their employer. "Companies that pay very well skew toward organizations that tend to be transparent about pay," Nazar says.
That doesn't mean people don't have rightful grievances, though, if there's not enough transparency, or if leaders aren't accountable to fix discrepancies.
Further, companies with transparent pay structures can create an environment where workers feel comfortable vocalizing dissatisfaction without without fear of retaliation, and with an expectation that their leaders will actually address it.
For example, at No. 5 Google, a January internal survey of employee found many were growing unhappy with their pay, promotions and CEO leadership. Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed employee concerns over competitive pay at an all-hands meeting in March. In May, Google raised pay and revamped its performance review system, a reversal of a December meeting when leaders said it wouldn't be raising salaries to match relentless inflation.
"People tend to feel safer in those environments where they can talk about pay, or bring it to their managers when they feel they aren't appropriately compensated," Nazar says. "What great organizations do around compensation is they never make team members feel there are going to be repercussions" for bringing up pay gaps and requesting adjustments, he adds. "That creates equity and fairness."
The majority of the best companies for good compensation are headquartered in California and New York City, where newly passed salary transparency laws will soon take effect. Nazar says new legislation is a step in the right direction to close wage gaps, hire talent and keep employees feeling appropriately recognized for their work.
As Nazar sees it, "companies that have clear standards of: here's how we pay the team, how you move up, the ranges you have the opportunity to be at if you continue — those have positive effects with current employees and potential candidates, and they build positive cultures overall."
Check out:
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