Glassdoor/Biogen
It's a bona fide victory to find a job you're passionate about that comes with solid benefits and a big paycheck. But it's an added bonus to feel like the work you're doing is making a positive impact on the world.
A recent list of the best companies to work for in America published by Business Insider with exclusive data from PayScale ranked the 2015 Fortune 500 companies, homing in on six criteria, including how meaningful employees find their work (read the full methodology here).
Here, we've ranked the top companies to work for by the percentage of employees who say their job has high meaning. The percentage was determined by respondents who work at a given employer who answered "Very much so" or "Yes" to the question, "Does your work make the world a better place?"
Three companies in the healthcare sector tied for the No. 1 spot — Biogen, Eli Lilly, and Gilead Sciences — with 91% of employees reporting high job meaning at their respective companies, all of which are responsible for developing life-changing medications for illnesses ranging from depression to HIV/AIDS to cancer.
Read on to find out the best companies to work for in America where employees find their work meaningful:
Headquarters: Maplewood, Minnesota
Experienced median pay: $85,100
High job meaning: 68% of employees
Nearly 90,000 employees are dedicated to this industrial conglomerate's five diverse business groups: consumer, electronics and energy, healthcare, industrial, and safety and graphics. The company also offers a bevy of benefits, including on-site fitness centers, stress-management coaching, and an on-site pharmacy and medical center.
Headquarters: Cupertino, California
Experienced median pay: $127,000
High job meaning: 71% of employees
Though a competitive and demanding place to work — only 6% of employees rated their jobs as low stress, according to PayScale — Apple treats its employees incredibly well, with perks like discounts on Apple products, robust health benefits (even for part-time Apple-store workers), and on-site "beer bashes." CEO Tim Cook addressed the company's commitment to employee diversity in a letter on Apple's website, stating that in 2015 35% of new hires were women and 43% were minorities.
Headquarters: Mountain View, California
Experienced median pay: $140,000
High job meaning: 73% of employees
Dethroning last year's No. 1, Facebook, Google earned the title as the best company to work for this year. Notorious for its abundant perks, employees at the search giant can take advantage of free gourmet food, 24/7 tech support, on-site massages, free fitness classes and gym memberships, and a generous vacation plan.
Employees also report that Google — recently renamed Alphabet in a corporate restructuring — allows them flexibility to work on passion projects and feed their creativity. The company continues to grow, adding nearly 9,000 jobs in the last year.
