Trader Joe’s, Costco Among Retailers on Forbes' Ranking of Best Employers for New Grads
It’s graduation season, and those entering the workforce face a decidedly different labor market and economy. In addition to overall uncertainty and job outlooks that fluctuate by industry, those in the class of 2021 are also competing with the 45% of graduates from the pandemic-hit class of 2020 who are still looking for jobs.
In its just-published annual ranking of Best Employers for New Grads, Forbes Magazine identified the 250 companies most liked by workforce entrants in 2021. Reflecting changes in the grocery sector over the past year, there was some shuffling of food retailers as employers.
In 2020, for example, Whole Foods Market earned the top spot on the list, at a time when consumers were radically changing their grocery buying habits. This year, Whole Foods ranks #56.
On the other hand, many food retailers are included in this year’s top tier of well-liked companies. Chief among them: Trader Joe’s coming in at #5 and Costco Wholesale at #9.
Following Whole Foods, Publix Super Markets is #59, H-E-B is #69 and Wegmans Food Markets is #91. Beyond the top 100, other grocery chains featured in the Forbes ranking include Aldi at #128 and Target at #220. Convenience store chains Kwik Trip/Kwik Star and Sheetz also made the list.
In the CPG arena, Perdue Farms is 150, while Kellogg Co. ranked at 172, Coca-Cola Co. was 241 and PepsiCo, Inc. was 243.
Company rankings were based on a survey of 20,000 U.S. employees with less than 10 years’ experience working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. Market research Statista partnered with Forbes to conduct the survey.
Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods is No. 26 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top retailers of food and consumables in the United States. Monrovia, Calif.-based Trader Joe’s is No. 28, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco is No. 4, Lakeland, Fl.- based Publix is No. 11, San Antonio-based H-E-B is No. 13, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans No. 35, Aldi U.S. is No. 24 and Target Corp. is No. 6.
