Some of the best places to work right here in metro Atlanta
With signs both nationally and locally pointing to more hiring, if you’re lucky enough you might end up at one of the best companies to work for in Georgia, as ranked by Fortune magazine.
The best places to work include grocery giant Publix Super Markets, insurer Aflac, technology company Cisco, gas station chain QuikTrip and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Rounding out the list are the law firm Alston & Bird, Intercontinental Hotels Group, PCL Construction, Ultimate Software and auto dealership CarMax.
What makes them so great? Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta gets kudos for how management tries to stay connected to workers, with senior leaders, for example, holding frequent parties with employees. At Publix Super Markets, the largest employee-owned company in the country, workers get generous annual stock infusions, and Intercontinental Hotels Group, the parent of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and other properties, has the most generous 401(k) plan in its industry.
Of the list, Alston& Bird (ranked No. 24 on Fortune’s overall list), Children’s Healthcare (No. 49) and Intercontinental (No. 100) are based in Atlanta, and Aflac (No. 77) is based in Columbus. Children’s Healthcare had the biggest jump up the list, from No. 60 last year.
In the latest signal that companies are doing more hiring, the government reported Thursday that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. The decline added to evidence that the job market is strengthening, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
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111 comments Add your comment
godoggo
January 20th, 2012
4:51 pm
Yes, Walmart doesn’t hire anyone if they have More than a HS Education……and
Publix has a stricter Drug testing policy than Walmart, who just wants you to have a heartbeat and be incompetent.
Plus, Walmart is the equivalent of a Job Corp here in the US.
Deez Nuts
January 20th, 2012
4:51 pm
The late shift at Krystal isn’t bad if you can deal with the T baggers.
Reality Check
January 20th, 2012
4:55 pm
You know I love to see people whining about their jobs. Guess what people it’s called “work” and you get PAID to do it. It’s not supposed to be wonderful and happy all the time…if that was true then we would not need to be paid to do it. I work for a large bank (not SunTrust) and it’s not always peaches and cream, but I work hard and feel that I am rewarded accordingly. When people say “Oh corporations are BAD” I just laugh. Corporations are made up of individuals working together with the goal of making money for themselves and their shareholders. Get over yourselves when you whine about this and that. If there are not corporations or private companies doing business FOR PROFIT then there are not jobs, 401(k)’s, etc. What are you going to do…grow your own crops to eat and to make clothes, etc. b/c guess what without businesses then you have to be self-reliant. And for those are getting ready to say that’s the life you want, then go buy some property and do it and get out of my life.
Deez Nuts
January 20th, 2012
5:07 pm
Cam,
You should have went to bammer, they gave Albert Means $200,000 and he didn’t play! You should take a class at UNCC and improve your negotiating skills.
Name (required)
January 20th, 2012
5:22 pm
Home Depot?? Worked at Corp HQ (SSC) for three years. Was fortunate not to be laid off during the yearly culling in February…most don’t understand that if the layoffs are under a certain # of people, by federal law, the do not need to disclose. It happens every year and it is very indiscriminate. Saw a lot of very good people that had years of service cut b/c their departments had to cut budgets. No corporate culture, very little continuity in positions and no loyalty what so ever from upper management down to staffers.
BBro
January 20th, 2012
5:27 pm
Best place to work is? For yourself, build your company and your dream. It’s tough at times and a lot of hard work and sometimes for no pay but the feeling of accomplishment is great. Thank you God for giving me the chance 25 years ago.
KSU Alum
January 20th, 2012
5:32 pm
Home Depot isn’t on the list because it’s a terrible place to work. The stores are bad enough, but have you ever been to their Corporate office? It’s like getting into Ft. Knox. You have to have top secret security clearance just to apply for a job. Oh, and when they interview you for that job, my god, it’s a nightmare. They’ve paid industrial psychologist hacks WAY too much money to develop that convoluted interview process. They are unrecognizable from the company that Bernie and Arthur ran for so long.
Me
January 20th, 2012
5:34 pm
Wow… Emory Healthcare isn’t on the list. Surprising?! *shrugs shoulders* Not really.
#disgruntledemployee
KSU Alum
January 20th, 2012
5:37 pm
@Reality Check:
How about you shut your trap and get back to raping your bank customers with extortionate fees.
Happy Deputy
January 20th, 2012
5:47 pm
You probably won’t see it here, but most First Responders are some of the happiest employees that are working anywhere….many reasons, but the primary one is that for most of them there are new challenges every day and that tends to keep one’s mind very active and thinking ahead. No one loves their job like a First Responder…..most feel as I do that we should pay the taxpayers for allowing us to work for them! One of the best places to work in metro Atlanta – the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department – without a doubt! Best Sheriff and professional sworn personnel along with a great civilian staff. If you want a job you can be proud of while helping your community and giving back to your fellow man….become a First Responder…..we run to trouble instead of away from it!
whoops....
January 20th, 2012
5:51 pm
@KSU Alum: didn’t pass the interview and get the job? Home Depot has been great for Georgia and the United States and when the economy gets better after November 2012 it will be an evan greater place to work.
Marty F
January 20th, 2012
5:59 pm
Jim Ellis Automotive Group !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still Looking
January 20th, 2012
6:16 pm
Anywhere that pays money is a good place to work right now.
KEN
January 20th, 2012
6:22 pm
Ackerman Security has always been in the top 10 companies to work for in atlanta, so it should be
listed statewide. it is the best!!
Welcome, Costco…I love you!
January 20th, 2012
6:31 pm
Yeah! Management sucks… but pay is great for a big box.
UGA
January 20th, 2012
6:57 pm
Slingin’ fat sacks to all the football players!!!
Anonymous
January 20th, 2012
7:02 pm
Don’t apply for a job at Theatre in the Square. They’ll either make you decide to quit or fire you. Horrid!
Pay Per View Midget Wrestling
January 20th, 2012
7:06 pm
I tell you one of the worst people to work for…….Herman Cain…..Unless you like to get hit on all the time.
Tacos
January 20th, 2012
8:06 pm
Why isn’t Wellstar on the list?
Dee
January 20th, 2012
8:35 pm
Before Mr. Goizueta died, Coca-Cola was a dream job…I worked there for a little over five years. It is now and have been for the past 10 years or more one of the worst employers in the State of Georgia. From the executive officers to supervisors, there is greed and behavior I can only describe as…deucedly (meaning devilishly and damnably). When I want a refreshing beverage, I buy store brand…watered down but gets the job done.
Really!!?!?
January 20th, 2012
9:32 pm
Question to all the peple who post about how awful their company is .
Why are you still there is it is what you describe as awful? Or why put in 10+ years at the place while complaining how horrible it is?
Wouldn’t it make sense to find another job where you are happier? That way those that want to work who would be grateful for just any position can take the one you hate so much.
Elle Duncan
January 20th, 2012
9:42 pm
V103 is the best place in Atlanta to work for.
Keri Hilson
January 20th, 2012
9:43 pm
Actually Waffle House is the best place to work.
Interesting
January 20th, 2012
10:46 pm
I see my company Cisco made the list!
Mark Roblez
January 20th, 2012
11:27 pm
Reed Construction Data because IT’S GREAT TO BE IN SALES!!!! SAN DIEGO!!!
Tootie
January 20th, 2012
11:28 pm
Chick Fil A Dwarf House
Interested Bystanderss
January 21st, 2012
12:22 am
State Farm regional office and agent’s offices. It is wonderful to work for an honest company that is stable. One of the best ratings in America in best customer services amd claim handling.
Think about it
January 21st, 2012
12:35 am
SunTrust is a terrible company to work for. They wouldn’t know employee appreciation if it bit them in the butt. They could stand to take a page from Aflac’s book.
butch
January 21st, 2012
1:27 am
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY i’ve been there since tornado rebuild great place to work GOOD PEOPLE to work for COME VISIT US FOR THURS. THUNDER FRI. NITE DRAGS & THE BIGGEST LABOR DAY PARTY IN THE U.S.A.
MOB
January 21st, 2012
5:17 am
Love your job or despise your job…it is a good thing to be employed.
DuHAPPY
January 21st, 2012
5:30 am
LARGEST FOR DEALER/NOT ONLY RIP CUSTOMER BUT ALSO EMPLOYEES/THEN CALL IT A FAMILY
RB
January 21st, 2012
11:16 am
I have several coworkers who worked for IHG, and their jobs where outsourced to India. They worked there for years, then had to train these people, and were then laid off.
Dennys
January 21st, 2012
11:21 am
Denny’s in Marietta
AtlNative1
January 21st, 2012
11:25 am
Chic Fil-A is not on the list because they have continued to be discriminatory towards gays and lesbians. they don’t not support diversity and their ‘employee camp’ teaches non-equality in civil rights. I appreciate that they think they are ‘christians’ and that’s their right (it’s a free country) but it’s starting to effect their image.
CJ
January 21st, 2012
11:26 am
Reality Check, are you the only competent person on these coments? I mean seriously guys… “thats an evil corporation because it had to lay off some people because the economy was bad. they should have kept paying people and gone out of business before they fired A single person!!” Thats what we call ignorance and selfishness
KB
January 21st, 2012
11:27 am
I’d have to agree, why isnt Chick-fil-a on this list?
Coach Mark Richt
January 21st, 2012
11:31 am
UGA is the best place to work. I get an increase every time any other football coach anywhere gets one. I don’t even have to ask for it. I don’t have to be the best at what I do. I can actually be 20th or 25th best and I’m okay. I get to work for guys who fire themselves. Whenever something goes wrong its the fault of one of those who report to me, not me. Pretty good gig, this UGA job. I think I’ll stay here at least another 10 years.
AtlNative1
January 21st, 2012
11:33 am
Southern fast-food staple Chick-fil-A has come under fire for its alleged support of a February marriage seminar to be hosted by one of Georgia’s most outspoken groups against homosexuality, reports The New York Times. The restaurant’s decision to provide sandwiches and brownies for the event has gay activists in a blogging frenzy and college students fighting to get the chain removed from their campuses.
Founded in 1946 by S. Truett Cathy, a southern Baptist, Chick-fil-A has always had religion as a central part of the company’s ethos. Restaurants in the chain are closed on Sundays, potential franchise operators are required to discuss their marital status and church involvement and on Mondays in some stores patrons can exchange the program from their Sunday church service for a free sandwich.
As a privately held company, Chick-fil-A has been able to easily uphold its faith-based principles, but not without some pushback. In 2002, a Muslim restaurant owner in Houston sued the chain, claiming he was fired because he refused to pray to Jesus during an employee training session. The case was settled.
In the ongoing effort to ingrain diversity and inclusion into Corporate America, it’s evident that sometimes the principles D&I practitioners work to uphold can be in conflict with one another. Where religious beliefs impact the rights of the LGBT community, who wins? For privately owed Chick-fil-A, the company has the final word. But its decisions are not without consequences, as the actions of dissatisfied customers can impact the bottom line. “It’s a hard call, a personal call,” says Sarah Beth Thomas, a 23-year-old Chick-fil-A patron. “You have to decide which soul you want to feed.”
Source: “A Chicken Chain’s Corporate Ethos Is Questioned by Gay Rights Advocates,” by Kim Severson, The New York Times, January 29, 2011.”
participation trophy
January 21st, 2012
11:59 am
I prefer to work from home – by which I mean walking to the mailbox for my gubment check.
stephen
January 21st, 2012
12:12 pm
Company A is great – Company A is horrible. It depends, right?
Shadow7071
January 21st, 2012
12:13 pm
There was a time when The Coca-Cola Company was the place to work but that time has… gone with the wind. Up until the end of the Goizueta era Coca-Cola was special. The product was special and the business was special but after Mr. Goizueta passed The Company fell into the hands of a string of bad managers that didn’t understand the business and underrated the specialness of the product. Today Coke is just like everybody else. The product isn’t special, the business isn’t special and, of course, the people aren’t special. Coke is just another product on the shelf and the people who help put that product on the shelf are just a cost burden that reduces share owner value.
Alum
Martin
January 21st, 2012
12:15 pm
Outsiders might think Home Depot. Insiders would never vote for Home Depot in a 100 years.
Herman Cain
January 21st, 2012
12:17 pm
My vote is for WSB – they’ve been exceedingly generous to me by actually letting me back on the station after my, uh, “campaign”. Nine, nine, nine!
Bubba
January 21st, 2012
12:18 pm
maybe chick fil a should start offering sausage dogs for the puffers
momma was right!
January 21st, 2012
12:20 pm
E-Pawn 4 life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CFA
January 21st, 2012
12:22 pm
but it’s starting to effect their image. CFA? are you kidding me? Their image is great! I think you will find more that agree with them. I don’t hold any ill will towards the G&L groups,but don’t think for a min that CFA’s image is going to be effected by it, If it is,it will be effected in a good way! Soory, but to be honest,most folks I know don’t really care what the G&L groups think.It may even increase their biz.
99%er
January 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
SunTrust may be great for some employees in isolated places, but overall the satisfaction and engagement level is below industry average. While some progress has been made, senior management seems to have lost interest. Worse yet, economic times have resulted in cutting expenses for the masses to the bone (layoffs, freezing the pension plan, no more coffee allowed in the office, even if you bring your own pot and supplies). Meanwhile, executives continue to travel on 2 company-owned jets and receive lavish bonuses despite poor financial performance related to messes created on their watch.
Cam
January 21st, 2012
12:25 pm
AU did me wrong man,that was not enough now that I thinks about it.
UGADawg
January 21st, 2012
12:59 pm
Chic Fil A can do what the heck they want. here in the south, it would prolly be good for business to stop serving any folks who aren’t like us. (can they legally do that course they can w/ regards to the puffs
Rickey
January 21st, 2012
1:09 pm
Propack intl is the best place to work.