Suppose you could work anywhere. What employer would you pick? LinkedIn culls its member data annually for insights, and the big surprise of this year’s survey isn’t that Google, once again, rates No. 1. What’s stunning is farther down the list: the ascent of big energy companies, which now claim 16 of the top 100 spots, up from 10 a year ago.
Big Oil? We’re talking about the likes of Shell (No. 9), BP (No. 13) and even ExxonMobil (No. 33.) Yes, the same BP that agreed last year to pay $4.5 billion in fines and other penalties related to a 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the same ExxonMobil that took a nonstop pounding last year in author Steve Coll’s grim, award-winning history of the company, Private Empire.
Yet millions of people work in the energy industry. A lot of them are proud of their work, and just about all of them are tired of being portrayed as a blight on society. Lots of big companies with less than heavenly public images have discovered in the past few years that their own employees represent an untapped resource of people ready to rally round the business.
Let’s not forget, too, that petroleum engineers are highly prized in the job market and command salaries to match. A recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that starting pay for recent grads in petroleum engineers is $93,500. That’s double what engineers across the board can expect. I don’t have the heart to put up a comparable statistic for English majors.
The mechanics of LinkedIn’s rankings are complex, but they focus on tightly defined, work-related interactions online, where big companies needn’t spend all their time apologizing or issuing “no comments.” Instead, high scores go to companies that have many people following their LinkedIn page or clicking on job ads. Overall, LinkedIn says, it bases its rankings on 25 billion interactions a year between the site’s members and various companies that are active on the site
In this arena, companies like BP and Exxon can shine. What’s more, people who follow BP’s fortunes closely, like my Forbes colleague Christopher Helman, have pointed out that the company has rebounded from the Gulf of Mexico spill a lot faster than most outsiders realize. Other energy-sector standouts on the LinkedIn list include Worley Parsons of Australia (No. 35), Conoco Phillips (No. 37), or Schlumberger (No. 48.)
LinkedIn’s director of insights, James Reybould, argues in a blog post that scoring well on these metrics speaks strongly to the standing of a company’s “talent brand.” Become known as a desirable employer, he maintains, and it can be a lot easier to recruit capable people.
The highest spots in LinkedIn’s rankings, much like last year, are divided largely between tech companies and global consumer-product giants. Given the recent flurry of Hollywood movies that glamorize life in Silicon Valley — such as “The Internship,” “Jobs” and “ The Social Network” — it’s little wonder that the three companies featured in those films (No. 1 Google; No. 2 Apple and No. 6 Facebook) are seen as highly desirable places to work. Also doing well, without any movies (so far) are Microsoft (No. 5) and Amazon (No. 7.)
Top-ranking consumer companies include Unilever at No. 3, Procter & Gamble at No. 4, and Pepsico at No. 8. They aren’t lionized as much in popular culture, but their recruiting and social-media specialists have been working hard to engage career-related audiences online. McKinsey & Co., the consulting company, finishes out the top-10 list at No. 10.
via Google Sizzles As Top Employer — But Big Oil’s Rise Is Stunning – Forbes.
Google Sizzles As Top Employer -- But Big Oil"s Rise Is Stunning
