AMERICA'S 100 Most Loved Workplaces

OUR SECOND ANNUAL LIST OF COMPANIES THAT EMPLOYEES LOVE REVEALS HYBRID WORK IS STILL KEY-AND EVOLVING-AND Career Development IS AN INCREASINGLY BIG DEAL

- HANK GILMAN

IT WILL NOT SURPRISE ANYONE WHO IS AT least partially awake that, nearly three years after COVID-19 hit our shores, the workplace is an unpredictable place. As Newsweek's 2022 list of Most Loved Companies shows, in this environment, against the backdrop of the Great Resignation and quiet quitting, the companies that employees are most passionate about are those that have been willing to change with the times and actively work to meet the evolving needs of the people who work for them. What's critical? For one thing, recognition that the hybrid workplace seems to have become a permanent fixture-even after multiple booster shots and companies like Goldman Sachs demanding that their well-paid Wall Streeters return to cubicle-world. Worker resistance to mandates to return to the office is a big deal, too. For example: Apple employees are battling to keep their hybrid or work-at-home arrangements going. According to NBC News, "employees have launched a petition against Apple's return-to-office plans." In other words, people got the power and it's not certain they'll ever give it up again and the best employers recognize that and act accordingly.

Of course, a worldwide economic downturn thanks, Vladimir Putin and Jerome Powell-might change the rules of engagement with employers. But for now, there's no end in sight, precisely because of developments like the Great Resignation and the labor shortages that ensued. Many companies-more on that a little later-are either offering hybrid roles or are just letting employees work where they want to work. But there's more.

Thanks partly to the labor shortage, companies are doing more to keep their employees happy. It's not just free Doritos and the occasional Yankees or Dodgers tickets in the company luxury boxes. Career development may be the most important perk emerging in recent months.