Place & Purpose

So much for the onsite gym and the free lunch. They’ll return someday. But, as the 389 firms on our fourth annual Best Workplaces list show, how you work together is more important than the place you call work. Meet six of the companies rising to the new challenge.

- By Leigh Buchanan and Greg Harris

There is never a bad time to celebrate wonderful workplaces— businesses that make employees feel challenged, valued, and respected, where leaders are trust worthy, generous, and humane.

And yet …

We started assembling ourannual Best Workplaces package months before Covid-19 began emptying offices and dispatching employees to their homes. Even in those innocent times, we knew great companies don’t depend onstocked refrigerators, onsite gyms, and nap rooms (though those don’t hurt).

But we did envision workplaces as actual “places,” physical spaces made inviting and stimulating through a combination of thoughtful benefits, perks, and policies, and the interactions of the smart, interesting people attracted to them. Such offices thrummed with energy and collegiality.

And then …