stock performance of glassdoor’s best places to …...recognized as best places to work over the...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
What’s Culture Worth? Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work 2009 to 2019
Andrew Chamberlain, Ph.D.Chief Economist, Glassdoor
Zanele MunyikwaMIT Sloan School of Management
![Page 2: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
2
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
04 INTRODUCTION
03 KEY FINDINGS
22 CONCLUSION
25 APPENDIX
07 I. Methodology
11 II. Stock Performance of Best Places to Work
Contents
WH
AT
'S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Note: This report is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as providing forward-looking investment
advice from Glassdoor. The findings in this report are based on historical stock market performance data, and past stock market
performance may not necessarily be indicative of future investment returns. Investors should consult a qualified investment
professional before making stock market investments.
![Page 3: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
3
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
• Do companies named to Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work
(BPTW) award outperform the stock market? We provide new
stock performance estimates of all publicly-traded BPTW award
winners for the complete history of the annual award program
that recognizes outstanding workplace culture from 2009
through 2019.
• We find a simple investment strategy of buying an equally
weighted portfolio of each year’s U.S. large BPTW winners
outperforms the S&P 500 index in nine of the 11 years we
examined. On average, stocks of BPTW winners earned 20.3
percent per year between 2009 and 2019, compared to 12.9
percent for the S&P 500.
• Over time, the compounded gap in stock performance between
BPTW winners and the overall stock market is substantial. A
hypothetical investment of $1,000 in each new class of BPTW
winners beginning in 2009 would have grown to $6,529 by
2019, a total investment return of 553 percent. By contrast,
$1,000 invested in the S&P 500 index for the same period
would have grown to $3,580, a total return of 258 percent — an
outperformance by BPTW winners of 295 percentage points
compared to the S&P 500 index.
• Three industry sectors lead in terms of stock performance among
BPTW companies: Retail (40.5 percent average annual return
in the year after award recognition); professional and business
services (28.3 percent); and information technology (24.7
percent). The lowest stock returns among award winners were
found in more traditional sectors of the economy: Construction,
repair and maintenance (-1.4 percent); oil, gas, energy and utilities
(3.9 percent); and insurance (4.4 percent).
• Among companies, Whole Foods (now a subsidiary of Amazon)
saw the highest annual returns earned by any BPTW winner in the
year after an award recognition. It earned an annual return of 191
percent in 2009. Other BPTW winners with above-average stock
returns include Nordstrom (+182 percent in 2009), and Orbitz
Worldwide (now a subsidiary of Expedia) (+164 percent in 2013).
• Among the 134 publicly-traded BPTW winners we examined,
the NASDAQ-listed companies collectively saw higher returns
compared to the other major U.S. exchange. The 81 listed on the
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earned an average annual stock
return of 16.9 percent from 2009 to 2019. By contrast, BPTW
winners traded on the NASDAQ exchange averaged 24.9 percent
— nearly twice the average return of the S&P 500 index during
that period.
• Does rank on the annual BPTW list matter to stock performance?
We find a positive -- although very weak -- association between
company rank on the yearly award and subsequent stock market
performance. On average, rising 10 places in the BPTW ranking is
associated with a 1.7 percentage point rise in annual stock returns
in the subsequent year.
• Consistent with the growing academic literature that finds a link
between employee culture and business performance, we find
that stocks of publicly-traded winners of Glassdoor’s Best Places
to Work award historically outperformed the U.S. stock market in
most years.
Key Findings
![Page 4: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
4
In June 2008, the launch of Glassdoor’s employer
review survey marked a turning point for academic
research on company culture. As one of the first
online platforms allowing employees to review
employers anonymously, Glassdoor rapidly amassed
one of the most extensive and detailed databases on
company culture in the world. Through the process
of surveying millions of online job seekers as they
arrived onto Glassdoor’s platform from popular
search engines each year, the company has compiled
more than 55 million company reviews and insights,
offering rich cultural information on more than 1
million workplaces globally.
Introduction
WH
Y D
O C
AN
DID
AT
ES
RE
JEC
T J
OB
OF
FE
RS
?
![Page 5: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
5
Less than a year after the 2008 launch of Glassdoor, the company
announced its inaugural Employees’ Choice Award for the “Best
Places to Work.” The award was unique at the time, using the
company’s growing database of anonymous employee reviews to
create the first-ever ranking of best workplace cultures based solely
on online feedback from employees. It was a radical new approach
to measuring workplace culture, using big data from an online tech
platform rather than traditional employer-led HR surveys and
applications.
Since then, Glassdoor’s annual Best Places to Work award has
grown into a celebrated institution. More than 250 U.S. employers
representing a diverse cross-section of the economy have been
recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1,
including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,
government, energy, professional services, media and more. Today,
the award consists of 10 separate lists of top employers spanning
nine countries globally and includes both small companies (fewer
than 1,000 employees) and large enterprises.
One of the most commonly asked questions about the companies
listed as Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work is whether, in addition to
having satisfied employees, they are high-performing companies.
That is, do companies with high employee satisfaction on Glassdoor
outperform their peers financially?
WH
Y D
O C
AN
DID
AT
ES
RE
JEC
T J
OB
OF
FE
RS
?
![Page 6: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
6
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
That question has sparked a vast literature of studies in recent
years examining the link between Glassdoor reviews and real-world
company performance. One of the first to do so was Glassdoor’s
own 2015 study examining the historical stock performance of
Best Places to Work winners.2 Since then, multiple academic
studies have identified several mechanisms through which online
employee sentiment on Glassdoor is a strong predictor of real-
world economic performance, ranging from future stock returns
and company profitability to the likelihood of ethical violations in
financial reporting among companies with weak employee culture.3
In this study, we update our original 2015 analysis of the real-world
stock market performance of companies named to Glassdoor’s Best
Places to Work list. We examine the full history of publicly-traded
companies named to the annual award from 2009 through 2019,
tracking their stock performance compared to the S&P 500 index —
a popular benchmark for stock performance among researchers —
during the same period. We show which companies and industries
have led Best Places to Work in stock performance each year, and
explore the link between company rank in the annual award and
subsequent stock performance.
The rest of this study is organized as follows: In Section 2, we
explain our methodology and show some basic facts about the
companies in our sample. In Section 3, we present our main results,
comparing the performance of Best Places to Work winners to the
overall stock market between 2009 and 2019. Finally, in Section 4,
we conclude and offer our thoughts on some possible mechanisms
that explain the connection between financial performance and
satisfied employee reviews on Glassdoor.
![Page 7: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
7
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Our goal in this study is to show how stocks of publicly-traded
companies named to Glassdoor’s U.S. Best Places to Work list have
fared historically during the year the company wins the award. To do
so, we compiled a list of every publicly-traded company to win the
award in each year from 2009 to 2019.4 To be included, companies
must have been (1) publicly traded for the entire calendar year in
which they were named as a Best Place to Work, and (2) listed under
a dedicated stock ticker on a U.S. exchange.5
Before 2018, the Best Places to Work award named 50 employers
per year; beginning in 2018, the award started featuring 100 large
employers. Of the 650 total Best Places to Work winners from 2009
to 2019 , 253 unique companies were represented. Among them,
we identified 134 companies that were publicly traded during the
full year in which they were named to the list. This study focuses on
the stock market performance of those 134 firms. 6
Each year’s annual Best Places to Work list is typically announced in
December. To simulate how an investor might use that information,
we track stock returns from the last trading day of the award
announcement year through the final trading day of the award year.
For example, the 2019 Best Places to Work list was announced
in December 2018; stock returns for publicly-traded companies
among that year’s winners are calculated based on stock price
changes between December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019. 7
I.
Methodology
![Page 8: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
8
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
For investment returns, we simulated a hypothetical investor
buying an equally weighted portfolio of each year’s Best Places to
Work companies — that is, they invest an equal dollar amount in
each stock — each December following the awards announcement
and holding it for one year.8 Stock returns are based solely on price
appreciation during the year, which is simply the percentage change
in closing price from December to December. For simplicity, we
ignore the impact of dividends and taxes, and use publicly available
stock price information. 9
As a performance benchmark, we compared the stock returns of
each year’s Best Places to Work winners to the S&P 500 index,
which serves as a widely recognized proxy for overall stock market
performance. The S&P 500 index tracks the price appreciation of
roughly 500 large publicly-traded U.S. employers. Because it is a price
index rather than a “total return” index — that is, it ignores the impact
of dividends, just as in this study — it provides a reasonable benchmark
for assessing the stock performance of publicly-traded Best Places in
comparison to Best Places to Work winners. 10
What Companies Are Included?Figure 1 shows the number of publicly-traded companies in our sample
each year, along with the total number of firms named as Best Places to
Work. On average about 56 percent of U.S. large Best Places to Work
winners are publicly traded, with the remaining 44 percent either
privately held or subsidiaries without a dedicated stock ticker. Of the
650 winners between 2009 and 2019, we identified 134 unique publicly-
traded companies. 11
Figure 1: How Many Best Places to Work are Publicly Traded?
0
20
40
60
80
100
50
36
2009
Total U.S. Large Best Placesto Work Companies
Publicly-Traded Winners
120
50
35
50
30
50 50
34 33
50
35
50
26
50
21
100
46
100
39
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
50
26
About 56 percent of companies named BPTW each year are publicly traded.
2019
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 9: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
9
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
What Industries Are Most Common?Over the years, companies from a wide variety of industries
have been named to the Best Places to Work list. However,
some sectors are much more heavily represented than
others. Figure 2 shows the distribution of winners by
industry from 2009 to 2019.
Of the 134 unique public companies we examined, 44 (or
33 percent) were in the tech industry. The next largest
group is 22 employers (or 16 percent) in manufacturing,
12 employers (or 9 percent) in finance, 9 employers (or 7
percent) in biotech, 7 employers each (or 5 percent) in retail
and travel, and 6 employers (or 4 percent) in the professional
and business services sector.
As is clear from Figure 2, three sectors have dominated
the U.S. large Best Places to Work list over the years: Tech,
manufacturing, and financial services. All three of these
sectors have been dramatically impacted by the “digital
transformation” — the rise of data and software as core
aspects of companies — and that has greatly impacted
their need to attract in-demand tech talent. We believe
that competitive pressure for talent is an important reason
why these sectors have risen to the top of Glassdoor’s Best
Places to Work over the years: They have to a large extent
invested in premium pay, excellent benefits, and fostering
healthy company cultures as a survival strategy in light of
the intense competition for tech workers.
22
12
9
7
7
6
5
4
4
3
4
1
2
2
2
0 10 20 30 40
Manufacturing
Finance
Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Travel & Tourism
Retail
Business Services
Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Real Estate
Media
Aerospace & Defense
Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Transportation & Logistics
Insurance
Construction, Repair & Maintenance
Telecommunications
Figure 2: Most Common Sectors for Best Places to Work WinnersTech, manufacturing and finance employers top the list of publicly traded BPTW
Information Technology
50
Number of Publicly Traded Winners (2009-2019)
44
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 10: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
10
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Box 1. Academic Research on Glassdoor Reviews and Company PerformanceBuilding knowledge about the importance of workplace
culture is an important part of Glassdoor’s mission. Since 2008,
Glassdoor has shared its database of millions of employee
reviews with more than 70 academic research teams around
the world, encouraging rigorous and independent research on
how employee culture drives great companies. Here are just
a few examples of research showing a link between company
performance and Glassdoor reviews in recent years:
“Crowdsourced employer reviews and stock returns,” by T.
Clifton Green, Ruoyan Huang, Quan Wen, and Dexin Zhou,
Journal of Financial Economics, October 2019.
Examined trends in Glassdoor reviews, and found that
companies who experience improvements in Glassdoor ratings
significantly outperform those with declines in the following
quarter.
“Family firms, employee satisfaction, and corporate
performance,” by Minjie Huang, Pingshu Li, Felix Meschke, and
James P. Guthrie, Journal of Corporate Finance, October 2015.
Used Glassdoor reviews to establish a causal link between
better employee satisfaction on Glassdoor and the financial
performance of a large sample of publicly-traded family firms.
“Employees’ online reviews and equity prices,” by Efthymia
Symitsi, Panagiotis Stamolampros, and George Daskalakis,
Economics Letters, January 2018.
Quantified the effect of better employee satisfaction on Glassdoor
on real-world corporate performance, finding that Glassdoor
reviews are a strong predictor of better company performance —
and that stock markets tend to undervalue good company culture.
“What Do Employees Know? Evidence from a Social Media
Platform,” by Kelly Huang, Meng Li, and Stanimir Markov, The
Accounting Review, June 2019.
Found that employee opinions on “6-month business outlook”
shared in Glassdoor reviews help predict future performance of
companies. The authors show that Glassdoor reviews contain
powerful information about both good and bad company events —
information often overlooked by stock market analysts.
“Duality in Diversity: How Intrapersonal and Interpersonal
Cultural Heterogeneity Relate to Firm Performance” by
Matthew Corritore, Amir Goldberg, and Sameer B. Srivastava,
Administrative Science Quarterly, April 2019.
Used the text of Glassdoor reviews to measure cultural similarity
inside a large sample of companies, showing that more or less
similar cultural themes mentioned in employee reviews predict
company innovation and operational performance.
![Page 11: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
11
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
II.
Stock Performance of Best Places to WorkIn this section, we show how stocks of publicly-traded Best Places
to Work winners have fared over the years compared to the S&P
500 index. As an investor, the simplest way to think about stock
performance of Best Places to Work winners is on a year-by-year
basis. If an investor purchased an equally weighted portfolio of each
new year’s Best Places to Work winners, and held them for one
year, how would that investment perform historically compared
to a simple strategy of buying a diversified portfolio of stocks that
mirrors the S&P 500 index?
![Page 12: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
12
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
12
Figure 3 shows the annual stock returns for each year’s class of Best
Places to Work winners compared to the annual return on the S&P
500 index during the 11-year period from 2009 to 2019. In each
year, the annual return from holding Best Places to Work stocks is
shown in green, while the overall S&P 500 return is shown in black.
A green bar above the black represents a year in which Best Places
to Work outperformed the overall stock market. By contrast, a
green bar below the black represents years when the stock market
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research).
Figure 3: Annual Stock Performance of Best Places to Work vs. S&P 500 Index
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60% 56.8%
23.5%
2009
Best Places to Work S&P 500 Index
70%
21.2%
12.8%
-7.4%
0%
15.7%
40.6%
13.4%
29.6%14.3%
11.4%
2.4%
9.5%
33.9%
19.4%
3%
-6.2%
34.3%
28.9%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
5.2%
-0.7%
A simple portfolio of BPTW companies outperforms the S&P 500 in 9 out of the past 11 years
2019
-20%
-10%
0%An
nu
al S
tock
Ret
urn
(Pri
ce A
pp
reci
atio
n)
outperformed the Best Places to Work portfolio.
As shown in the figure, the Best Places to Work outperformed the S&P
500 index in nine of the 11 years examined, or roughly 82 percent of the
time. During this period, the S&P 500 index averaged an annual return of
about 12.9 percent. By contrast, Best Places to Work winners averaged a
20.3 percent annual return, an average outperformance of 7.4 percentage
points annually compared to the S&P 500.
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 13: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
13
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Why Underperformance in 2011 and 2016?The Best Places to Work stocks underperformed the overall
stock market in two of the 11 years we examined: 2011 and
2016. What’s behind those anomalies?
In 2011, the U.S. economy was in the midst of a slow recovery
from the depths of the Great Recession. In that year, several
companies named Best Places to Work suffered very poor
stock returns as the hangover from the recent recession
lingered. For example, Overstock lost -52 percent of its value
in 2011; similarly, Goldman Sachs stock was down -46 percent,
along with Morgan Stanley (-44 percent), Ford Motor Company
(-36 percent), Southwest Airlines (-34 percent), and Deutsche
Bank (-27 percent). In total, 15 of the 30 publicly-traded
Best Places to Work companies’ stocks declined that year
as the recession continued to take a toll on the U.S. financial,
automotive and transportation sectors.
In 2016, a very different phenomenon explains the
underperformance of Best Places to Work winners’ stocks,
namely the unusually negative stock of performance among
three companies on the list: Vivint Solar, Twitter, and NIKE.
In 2016, Vivint Solar lost 73 percent of its stock value due to
highly unfavorable market conditions facing the solar power
sector. Twitter’s stock lost 30 percent of its value following
negative analyst reports about the company’s advertising
revenue prospects. And NIKE’s stock lost 19 percent following
disappointing profit reports. These three outliers together
explain about 80 percent of the underperformance of the Best
Places to Work winners’ average return in 2016.
![Page 14: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
14
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
The Value of $1,000 Investment Over the YearsAnother way to illustrate the investment returns of a Best Places to
Work portfolio is to look at such an investment’s cumulative growth
over many years, compared with a similar investment in a portfolio
that mirrors the S&P 500 index during the same period.
Figure 4 shows the value of a hypothetical $1,000 investment made
in Best Places to Work winners at the end of 2008, along with a
comparable investment in the S&P 500 index. Each investment
strategy begins with an initial investment of $1,000. On the last
trading day of December each year, the hypothetical investor splits
a $1,000 investment equally among each years’ Best Places to Work
winners and also makes a $1,000 investment in the S&P 500 index,
and holds both investments for one year, repeating the process each
December.
The cumulative value of a $1,000 investment in Best Places to Work
winners is shown in the blue-green line, while the value of $1,000
invested in the S&P 500 index is shown in the blue line. After 11
years, the initial $1,000 investment in Best Places to Work winners
would have grown to $6,529 by the end of 2019, a total investment
return of 553 percent. By contrast, the $1,000 invested in the S&P
500 would have grown to $3,580, a total return of 258 percent. That
amounts to a cumulative 295 percentage point investment return
outperformance by a Best Places to Work portfolio compared to the
S&P 500 index between 2009 and 2019.
$1,000
$0
$1K
$2K
$3K
$4K
$5K
$6K
$7K
Val
ue
of $
1,0
00
Init
ial I
nve
stm
ent
Figure 4: Value of $1,000 Invested in Best Places to Work vs. S&P 500 IndexAn invesment of $1,000 starting in 2008 in each year’s BPTW winners would’ve grown
to $6,529 by the end of 2019
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 20192008
$1,000
$1,568
$1,235
$1,900
$1,393
$1,760
$1,393
$2,036
$1,580
$2,863
$2,047
$3,272
$2,281
$3,442
$2,265
$3,525
$2,480
$4,720
$2,961
$4,861
$2,777
$6,529
$3,580
Best Places to Work S&P 500 Index
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 15: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
15
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Industries with Top Stock ReturnsCompanies from a variety of industries have appeared on the Best
Places to Work list over the years. One frequent question often asked
by investors: Among Best Places to Work winners, which sectors have
historically exhibited the strongest stock market performance?
Figure 5 shows the average annual stock performance of Best Places
to Work winners by industry. In total, 16 industries are represented
among publicly-traded winners from 2009 to 2019. Among them,
three industries exhibited the highest returns (denoted with green
bars): Retail, business services, and information technology.
The highest annual stock performance among Best Places to Work
winners is in the retail sector, with an average annual return of
40.5 percent. That sector consists of seven firms, including several
high-performing retail giants such as Whole Foods, Nordstrom, and
Lululemon.
Previous research has shown a strong connection between employee
satisfaction on Glassdoor and customer satisfaction in customer-
oriented sectors like retail. As customer satisfaction helps fuel
customer loyalty and repeat sales, that connection between customer
satisfaction and satisfied employees may offer a partial explanation for
why the retail sector has exhibited such strong stock returns among
Best Places to Work over the years.
![Page 16: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
16
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? The sector with the second-highest stock returns
between 2009 and 2019 was professional and
business services (28.3 percent, six employers). That
sector includes many leading professional services
and consulting firms such as Accenture, Gartner,
and Insperity. They are followed by the fast-growing
information technology sector (24.7 percent, 45 firms),
which includes many of today’s tech giants, including
Google, Apple, Netflix, Facebook and others.
By comparison, the weakest stock returns among
Best Places to Work winners have historically been
found in the following sectors: Construction, repair &
maintenance (-1.4 percent, two firms); Oil, gas, energy
& utilities (3.9 percent, five firms); and insurance (4.4
percent, two firms). Despite firms from these sectors
having sufficiently strong employee cultures to be named
Best Places to Work winners, the broader economic
headwinds facing these sectors in recent years has
nevertheless contributed to underwhelming stock
performance by these companies.
28.3%
24.7%
21.3%
20.4%
19.3%
18.1%
17.5%
17.2%
12.8%
11.7%
12.7%
-1.4%
3.9%
4.4%
6.5%
-5% 0 10% 20% 35%
Business Services
Information Technology
Transportation & Logistics
Travel & Tourism
Finance
Aerospace & Defence
Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Media
Manufacturing
Telecommunications
Real Estate
Insurance
Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Construction, Repair & Maintenance
Figure 5: Sectors with the Highest Annual Stock Returns Among BPTW Winners
Retail, business services and tech sectors lead among publicly traded BPTW winners 2009-2019
Retail
45%
Annual Stock Return (Price Appreciation)
40.5%
5% 15% 25% 40%30%
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
16
![Page 17: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
17
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Top Performing CompaniesThe annual stock performance of Best Places to Work
winners in this study is ultimately an average of individual
stock returns. As a result, the performance of a few individual
companies can have an outsized impact on overall portfolio
performance from year to year. Which companies have led
each year in terms of highest stock returns among Best Places
to Work winners?
Figure 6 shows the three best-performing stocks in each
year examined, illustrating which specific winning companies
have driven superior stock returns. Across all years, the
highest annual stock performance by any company in the
year following being named to Best Places to Work was
Whole Foods, whose stock rose 191 percent in 2009 after
being named to the inaugural Best Places to Work award in
December 2008.12 They are followed by Nordstrom (+182
percent, 2009) and Orbitz Worldwide13 (+164 percent, 2013).
Many of the companies with the highest-performing stocks
span a wide variety of sectors, including Caterpillar (64
percent, 2010), Chevron (31 percent, 2016), Boston Scientific
(43 percent, 2018), and Southwest Airlines (125 percent,
2014). In 2019, the most recent year we examined, the highest
stock returns were earned by two technology firms and one
retailer: Paycom (+116 percent), Paylocity (+101 percent), and
Lululemon (+91 percent).
![Page 18: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
18
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Figure 6: 3 Best Places to Work Winners with Highest Stock Returns Each Year
0%
20%
40%
80%
120%
160%
200%
Highest annual price appreciation among each year’s class of BPTW winners 2009-2019
60%
100%
140%
180%
191%
147%
182%
Wh
ole
Fo
od
s
No
rdst
rom
Ap
ple
2009
84%
64%
2010
60%
Wh
ole
Fo
od
s
Cat
erp
illar
Intu
it
33%
17%
2011
26%
Bri
sto
l-M
yers
Sq
uib
b
Ap
ple
Ch
evro
n
2012
109%
66%73%
Rea
chlo
cal
Rac
ksp
ace
Sale
sfo
rce
2013
164%
91%
105%
Orb
itz
Wo
rld
wid
e
Fac
ebo
ok
Bio
gen
Idec
2014
125%
40%43%
Sou
thw
est
Air
lines
Fac
ebo
ok
Inte
l
2015
64%
47%59%
NV
IDIA
Gen
esys
Go
ogl
e
2016
49%
31%40%
F5
Net
wo
rks
Zill
ow
Ch
evro
n
2017
81%
57%70%
NV
IDIA
Ad
ob
e
Pay
loci
ty
2018
63%
43%55%
Insp
erit
y
lulu
lem
on
Bo
sto
n S
cien
tifi
c
2019
116%
91%101%
Pay
com
Pay
loci
ty
lulu
lem
on
An
nu
al S
tock
Ret
urn
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 19: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
19
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Returns by Overall US ExchangeSince 2009, a total of 134 unique publicly-traded companies have
been named to the Best Places to Work list. Of them, 81 have been
listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), while 53 have been
listed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ exchange. An obvious question
ensues: Are there any differences in the annual stock performance
of Best Places to Work companies based on which of the two major
U.S. stock exchanges they are listed?
Figure 7 shows the average annual stock performance of Best
Places to Work companies by the exchange their shares are traded
on. Between 2009 and 2019, award winners traded on the NYSE
earned an average annual stock return of 16.9 percent — well above
the S&P 500 average return of 12.9 percent during that period.
However, Best Places to Work winners traded on the NASDAQ
exchange averaged a remarkable 24.9 percent annual return —
nearly twice the average return of the S&P 500 during that period.
What’s behind the historically strong stock performance of
NASDAQ-listed companies? There is substantial self-selection
between NYSE and NASDAQ, the two largest stock exchanges in
the world. Many high-performing tech companies in our analysis
are listed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ exchange, including Netflix,
Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Those companies have
enjoyed spectacular stock performances in recent years that are
largely unrelated to which exchange they’re listed on; this has
helped drive returns among NASDAQ-listed winners. By contrast,
many employers in more traditional sectors, such as Wells Fargo,
Toyota and Hilton, are listed on the NYSE; those stocks on average
delivered more modest stock returns during our sample period.
Figure 7: BPTW Winner Stock Returns by U.S. Exchange
24.9%
16.9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
NASDAQ Listed Companies NYSE Listed Companies
Average annual stock returns by exchange 2009-2019
25%
30%
Ave
rage
An
nu
al S
tock
Ret
urn
s
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 20: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
20
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Does A Company’s Ranking Among the Award Winners Matter?A final question we examined is whether there’s any link between
the rank of companies on the annual Best Places to Work list — that
is, whether they were toward the top or bottom of the annual list —
and their subsequent stock market performance. There’s growing
academic literature showing that higher-rated companies according
to Glassdoor reviews exhibit higher financial performance (see Box 1
above). Do we also see this pattern amongst companies based on their
relative rankings on the Best Places to Work list?
Figure 8 shows a scatterplot of company rank in the Best Places
to Work award and annual stock returns. Each dot represents one
company in the year in which they were named to the award. The
horizontal axis shows the rank of that company (either from 1 to 50,
or from 1 to 100 depending on the award year) while the vertical axis
shows their annual stock performance for the year. In the figure, a
company rank of 1 is “best” in terms of award ranking.
As shown in the figure, there is a positive -- although very weak --
association between company rank and subsequent stock market
performance. On average, companies that ranked closer to the top of
the list do on average have higher stock returns than those near the
bottom. For example, the average annual stock return of companies
listed in the top 20 ranks of Best Places to Work winners was 24.1
percent between 2009 and 2019. By contrast, the average annual
return for winners ranked toward the bottom of the list, from 80th
to 100th, was 8.4 percent during the same period. On average, rising
10 places in the Best Place to Work ranking is associated with a 1.7
percent higher annual stock return.
![Page 21: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
21
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
In addition, Figure 8 illustrates that the highest stock returns
we identified in any year are mostly clustered among companies
achieving a ranking in the top 30 of the award. Examples include
Whole Foods (191 percent, ranked #6 in 2009), Nordstrom (182
percent, ranked #27 in 2009), Orbitz Worldwide (164 percent,
ranked #26 in 2013), Apple (147 percent, ranked #19 in 2009), and
NetApp (146 percent, ranked #10 in 2009).
While there is some evidence of a positive correlation between
stock performance and being more highly ranked as a Best Place
to Work, the evidence in Figure 8 is nevertheless very weak. On
the other hand, Figure 8 is broadly consistent with past academic
research using Glassdoor reviews repeatedly showing a clear link
between better employee sentiment and improved stock market
performance in the future (see Box 1 for a few examples).
Figure 8: BPTW Winner Rank and Annual Stock ReturnsAverage annual stock returns and award rank 2009-2019
An
nu
al S
tock
Ret
urn
Company Rank in BPTW Award (1=Best)
Lower Ranked Higher Ranked
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (glassdoor.com/research)
![Page 22: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
22
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
ConclusionIn this study, we provide new estimates of the historical stock
performance of large U.S. Best Places to Work winners from 2009
to 2019. In our original 2015 study, we found that publicly-traded
Best Places to Work companies significantly outperformed the
overall stock market between 2009 and 2014. In this study, we
confirm a similar pattern from 2015 through 2019, with Best Places
to Work winners outperforming the S&P 500 index in 9 of the 11
years we examined.
![Page 23: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
23
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Our finding that U.S. employers with the best employee satisfaction
also exhibit strong business performance is consistent with today’s
growing academic literature. There is a clear link between strong
employee culture and real-world financial performance. What are
the likely mechanisms that explain this link?
The first key driver of our results is that the companies named to the
annual Best Places to Work awards are far from a random sample of
employers. The Best Places to Work winners have often come from
sectors of the economy that are fast-growing, where competition
for skilled labor is fierce, and that also have above-average stock
returns — such as tech and professional services. In response,
employers in these sectors have invested heavily in enhancing their
employee culture as a talent-attraction strategy in recent years.
These shared characteristics of employers we have examined
partially explain why Best Places to Work winners consistently
outperform the overall stock market.
Second, the risk profile of Best Places to Work winners is
significantly different from the overall stock market. Economists
teach that there is a tradeoff between risk and return in the stock
market. Although Best Places to Work winners significantly
outperform the S&P 500 over time, their returns are also much
more volatile from year to year. Thus, part of the reason why Best
Places to Work winners outperform the overall stock market is that
investors demand compensation for being willing to take on that
additional risk.
23
![Page 24: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
24
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Finally, a growing body of research shows that employee reviews
gathered by Glassdoor often contain deep insights into companies’
operational performance and employee morale — issues that may
only translate into actual business performance in subsequent
months and years.14 Information revealed on Glassdoor about
employee sentiment in one year often portends business problems
or successes in the coming one. That fact alone creates a mechanical
link between companies that are named as Best Places to Work
winners each year and their subsequent stock market performance.
Our findings reinforce the growing academic consensus about the
relationship between workplace culture and real-world business
outcomes, particularly for knowledge-based sectors in which human
resources are one of companies’ most critical assets. Our findings
further suggest that crowdsourced employee reviews can be a
powerful tool for executives in measuring, monitoring, and improving
workplace culture as a driver of innovation and financial performance.
![Page 25: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
25
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
AppendixComplete list of all unique publicly-traded Best Places to Work
winners examined in this study.
![Page 26: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
26
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Table A1
Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Accenture NYSE ACN 2009 Business Services
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2009 Information Technology
American Express NYSE AXP 2009 Finance
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2009 Information Technology
Best Buy NYSE BBY 2009 Retail
Capital One NYSE COF 2009 Finance
Caterpillar NYSE CAT 2009 Manufacturing
Chevron NYSE CVX 2009 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Cisco Systems NASDAQ CSCO 2009 Information Technology
Citrix Systems NASDAQ CTXS 2009 Information Technology
Continental Airlines NYSE CAL 2009 Travel & Tourism
EMC NYSE EMC 2009 Information Technology
FactSet NYSE FDS 2009 Finance
FedEx NYSE FDX 2009 Transportation & Logistics
General Mills NYSE GIS 2009 Manufacturing
Goldman Sachs NYSE GS 2009 Finance
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2009 Information Technology
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2009 Information Technology
Juniper Networks NYSE JNPR 2009 Information Technology
Lockheed Martin NYSE LMT 2009 Aerospace & Defense
Marriott International NASDAQ MAR 2009 Travel & Tourism
MetLife NYSE MET 2009 Insurance
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2009 Manufacturing
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2009 Information Technology
Netflix NASDAQ NFLX 2009 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2009 Manufacturing
Nordstrom NYSE JWN 2009 Retail
Paychex NASDAQ PAYX 2009 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2009 Manufacturing
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2009 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2009 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2009 Information Technology
![Page 27: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
27
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Schlumberger NYSE SLB 2009 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Texas Instruments NASDAQ TXN 2009 Manufacturing
Wells Fargo NYSE WFC 2009 Finance
Whole Foods NASDAQ WFM 2009 Retail
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2010 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2010 Information Technology
Best Buy NYSE BBY 2010 Retail
Caterpillar NYSE CAT 2010 Manufacturing
Chevron NYSE CVX 2010 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Cintas NASDAQ CTAS 2010 Business Services
Continental Airlines NYSE CAL 2010 Travel & Tourism
EMC NYSE EMC 2010 Information Technology
FactSet NYSE FDS 2010 Finance
FedEx NYSE FDX 2010 Transportation & Logistics
General Mills NYSE GIS 2010 Manufacturing
GlaxoSmithKline NYSE GSK 2010 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Goldman Sachs NYSE GS 2010 Finance
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2010 Information Technology
Harris NYSE HRS 2010 Aerospace & Defense
Intel NASDAQ INTC 2010 Information Technology
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2010 Information Technology
Juniper Networks NYSE JNPR 2010 Information Technology
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2010 Manufacturing
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2010 Information Technology
Paychex NASDAQ PAYX 2010 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2010 Manufacturing
Prudential NYSE PRU 2010 Finance
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2010 Information Technology
Rackspace NYSE RAX 2010 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2010 Information Technology
Schlumberger NYSE SLB 2010 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Sherwin-Williams NYSE SHW 2010 Manufacturing
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2010 Travel & Tourism
Travelers Companies NYSE TRV 2010 Insurance
![Page 28: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
28
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Turner Broadcasting NYSE TWX 2010 Media
Whole Foods NASDAQ WFM 2010 Retail
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2011 Information Technology
American Express NYSE AXP 2011 Finance
Analog Devices NASDAQ ADI 2011 Manufacturing
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2011 Information Technology
BB&T NYSE BBT 2011 Finance
Bristol-Myers Squibb NYSE BMY 2011 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Capital One NYSE COF 2011 Finance
Chevron NYSE CVX 2011 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Cummins NYSE CMI 2011 Manufacturing
Deutsche Bank NYSE DB 2011 Finance
Fluor NYSE FLR 2011 Construction, Repair & Maintenance
Ford Motor Company NYSE F 2011 Manufacturing
General Mills NYSE GIS 2011 Manufacturing
Goldman Sachs NYSE GS 2011 Finance
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2011 Information Technology
Intel NASDAQ INTC 2011 Information Technology
Monsanto Company NYSE MON 2011 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Morgan Stanley NYSE MS 2011 Finance
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2011 Manufacturing
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2011 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2011 Manufacturing
Overstock NASDAQ OSTK 2011 Retail
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2011 Manufacturing
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2011 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2011 Information Technology
Shutterfly NASDAQ SFLY 2011 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2011 Travel & Tourism
Synopsys NASDAQ SNPS 2011 Information Technology
Travelers Companies NYSE TRV 2011 Insurance
Turner Broadcasting NYSE TWX 2011 Media
![Page 29: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
29
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Accenture NYSE ACN 2012 Business Services
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2012 Information Technology
Chevron NYSE CVX 2012 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Citrix Systems NASDAQ CTXS 2012 Information Technology
Coach NYSE COH 2012 Retail
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2012 Retail
Disney Parks & Resorts NYSE DIS 2012 Media
Dow Chemical NYSE DOW 2012 Manufacturing
Eli Lilly NYSE LLY 2012 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
FedEx NYSE FDX 2012 Transportation & Logistics
Fluor NYSE FLR 2012 Construction, Repair & Maintenance
General Mills NYSE GIS 2012 Manufacturing
Goldman Sachs NYSE GS 2012 Finance
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2012 Information Technology
Groupon NASDAQ GRPN 2012 Information Technology
Intel NASDAQ INTC 2012 Information Technology
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2012 Information Technology
Johnson & Johnson NYSE JNJ 2012 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Monsanto Company NYSE MON 2012 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Morningstar NASDAQ MORN 2012 Finance
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2012 Manufacturing
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2012 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2012 Manufacturing
Nordstrom NYSE JWN 2012 Retail
NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA 2012 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2012 Manufacturing
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2012 Information Technology
Rackspace NYSE RAX 2012 Information Technology
Reachlocal NASDAQ RLOC 2012 Business Services
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2012 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2012 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2012 Travel & Tourism
![Page 30: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
30
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Starbucks NASDAQ SBUX 2012 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Viacom Media Networks NASDAQ VIA 2012 Media
Agilent Technologies NYSE A 2013 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Akamai NASDAQ AKAM 2013 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2013 Information Technology
Biogen Idec NASDAQ BIIB 2013 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Boeing Commercial Airplanes NYSE BA 2013 Aerospace & Defense
Chevron NYSE CVX 2013 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Citrix Systems NASDAQ CTXS 2013 Information Technology
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2013 Retail
Cummins NYSE CMI 2013 Manufacturing
Dow Chemical NYSE DOW 2013 Manufacturing
Eaton NYSE ETN 2013 Manufacturing
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2013 Information Technology
Fluor NYSE FLR 2013 Construction, Repair & Maintenance
Gartner NYSE IT 2013 Business Services
General Mills NYSE GIS 2013 Manufacturing
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2013 Information Technology
Hyatt NYSE H 2013 Travel & Tourism
Intel NASDAQ INTC 2013 Information Technology
Jet Blue NASDAQ JBLU 2013 Transportation & Logistics
LinkedIn NYSE LNKD 2013 Information Technology
Mastercard NYSE MA 2013 Finance
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2013 Manufacturing
Orbitz Worldwide NYSE OWW 2013 Information Technology
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2013 Information Technology
Rackspace NYSE RAX 2013 Information Technology
Red Hat NYSE RHT 2013 Information Technology
Riverbed Technology NASDAQ RVBD 2013 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2013 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2013 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2013 Travel & Tourism
![Page 31: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
31
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Starbucks NASDAQ SBUX 2013 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Turner Broadcasting NYSE TWX 2013 Media
Workday NYSE WDAY 2013 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2014 Information Technology
Cameron International NYSE CAM 2014 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Chevron NYSE CVX 2014 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Citrix Systems NASDAQ CTXS 2014 Information Technology
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2014 Retail
Disney Parks & Resorts NYSE DIS 2014 Media
Eastman Chemical NYSE EMN 2014 Manufacturing
eBay Inc NASDAQ EBAY 2014 Information Technology
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2014 Information Technology
FedEx NYSE FDX 2014 Transportation & Logistics
Gartner NYSE IT 2014 Business Services
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2014 Information Technology
Guidewire NYSE GWRE 2014 Information Technology
Hyatt NYSE H 2014 Travel & Tourism
Intel NASDAQ INTC 2014 Information Technology
Interactive Intelligence NASDAQ ININ 2014 Information Technology
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2014 Information Technology
LinkedIn NYSE LNKD 2014 Information Technology
National Instruments NASDAQ NATI 2014 Manufacturing
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2014 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2014 Manufacturing
Orbitz Worldwide NYSE OWW 2014 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2014 Manufacturing
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2014 Information Technology
Rackspace NYSE RAX 2014 Information Technology
Red Hat NYSE RHT 2014 Information Technology
Riverbed Technology NASDAQ RVBD 2014 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2014 Information Technology
Starbucks NASDAQ SBUX 2014 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Stryker NYSE SYK 2014 Manufacturing
![Page 32: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
32
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Texas Instruments NASDAQ TXN 2014 Manufacturing
Texas Roadhouse NASDAQ TXRH 2014 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Twitter NYSE TWTR 2014 Information Technology
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2015 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2015 Information Technology
Bristol-Myers Squibb NYSE BMY 2015 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Chevron NYSE CVX 2015 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2015 Retail
Disney Parks & Resorts NYSE DIS 2015 Media
Eastman Chemical NYSE EMN 2015 Manufacturing
F5 Networks NASDAQ FFIV 2015 Information Technology
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2015 Information Technology
Ford Motor Company NYSE F 2015 Manufacturing
Gartner NYSE IT 2015 Business Services
GE Aviation NYSE GE 2015 Aerospace & Defense
Genesys NYSE GENESYS 2015 Information Technology
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2015 Information Technology
Interactive Intelligence NASDAQ ININ 2015 Information Technology
LinkedIn NYSE LNKD 2015 Information Technology
Monsanto Company NYSE MON 2015 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
NIKE NYSE NKE 2015 Manufacturing
NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA 2015 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2015 Manufacturing
QUALCOMM NASDAQ QCOM 2015 Information Technology
Rockwell Automation NYSE ROK 2015 Manufacturing
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2015 Travel & Tourism
Stryker NYSE SYK 2015 Manufacturing
Toyota Motor Sales NYSE TM 2015 Manufacturing
Zillow NASDAQ ZG 2015 Real Estate
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2016 Information Technology
Akamai NASDAQ AKAM 2016 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2016 Information Technology
Chevron NYSE CVX 2016 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2016 Retail
![Page 33: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
33
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Delta Air Lines NYSE DAL 2016 Travel & Tourism
Eastman Chemical NYSE EMN 2016 Manufacturing
Expedia Group NASDAQ EXPE 2016 Information Technology
F5 Networks NASDAQ FFIV 2016 Information Technology
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2016 Information Technology
Gartner NYSE IT 2016 Business Services
GE Aviation NYSE GE 2016 Aerospace & Defense
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2016 Information Technology
Guidewire NYSE GWRE 2016 Information Technology
HubSpot NYSE HUBS 2016 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2016 Manufacturing
Paycom NYSE PAYC 2016 Information Technology
Red Hat NYSE RHT 2016 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2016 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2016 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2016 Travel & Tourism
Stryker NYSE SYK 2016 Manufacturing
Twitter NYSE TWTR 2016 Information Technology
Vivint Solar NYSE VSLR 2016 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Workday NYSE WDAY 2016 Information Technology
Zillow NASDAQ ZG 2016 Real Estate
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2017 Information Technology
Akamai NASDAQ AKAM 2017 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2017 Information Technology
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2017 Retail
Delta Air Lines NYSE DAL 2017 Travel & Tourism
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2017 Information Technology
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2017 Retail
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2017 Information Technology
FedEx NYSE FDX 2017 Transportation & Logistics
Forrester NASDAQ FORR 2017 Business Services
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2017 Information Technology
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2017 Information Technology
Johnson & Johnson NYSE JNJ 2017 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
![Page 34: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
34
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
lululemon NASDAQ LULU 2017 Retail
Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT 2017 Information Technology
NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA 2017 Information Technology
Paylocity NASDAQ PCTY 2017 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2017 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2017 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2017 Travel & Tourism
Texas Instruments NASDAQ TXN 2017 Manufacturing
The Clorox Company NYSE CLX 2017 Manufacturing
Zillow NASDAQ ZG 2017 Real Estate
3M NYSE MMM 2018 Manufacturing
Accenture NYSE ACN 2018 Business Services
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2018 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2018 Information Technology
AvalonBay Communities NYSE AVB 2018 Real Estate
Boston Scientific NYSE BSX 2018 Manufacturing
Capital One NYSE COF 2018 Finance
CDW NASDAQ CDW 2018 Information Technology
Cisco Systems NASDAQ CSCO 2018 Information Technology
Darden NYSE DRI 2018 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Delta Air Lines NYSE DAL 2018 Travel & Tourism
Disney Parks & Resorts NYSE DIS 2018 Media
Electronic Arts NASDAQ EA 2018 Media
Eli Lilly NYSE LLY 2018 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Ellie Mae NYSE ELLI 2018 Information Technology
Extra Space Storage NYSE EXR 2018 Real Estate
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2018 Information Technology
Forrester NASDAQ FORR 2018 Business Services
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2018 Information Technology
Guidewire NYSE GWRE 2018 Information Technology
Hilton NYSE HLT 2018 Travel & Tourism
HubSpot NYSE HUBS 2018 Information Technology
Hyatt NYSE H 2018 Travel & Tourism
Insperity NYSE NSP 2018 Business Services
![Page 35: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
35
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2018 Information Technology
Johnson & Johnson NYSE JNJ 2018 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
lululemon NASDAQ LULU 2018 Retail
Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT 2018 Information Technology
NIKE NYSE NKE 2018 Manufacturing
NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA 2018 Information Technology
Oshkosh Corporation NYSE OSK 2018 Manufacturing
Paylocity NASDAQ PCTY 2018 Information Technology
Procter & Gamble NYSE PG 2018 Manufacturing
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2018 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2018 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2018 Travel & Tourism
Starbucks NASDAQ SBUX 2018 Restaurants, Bars & Food Services
Stryker NYSE SYK 2018 Manufacturing
T-Mobile NASDAQ TMUS 2018 Telecommunications
Taylor Morrison NYSE TMHC 2018 Construction, Repair & Maintenance
Toyota Motor Sales NYSE TM 2018 Manufacturing
Travelers Companies NYSE TRV 2018 Insurance
Ultimate Software NASDAQ ULTI 2018 Information Technology
United Airlines NASDAQ UAL 2018 Travel & Tourism
VMware NYSE VMW 2018 Information Technology
Zillow NASDAQ ZG 2018 Real Estate
Accenture NYSE ACN 2019 Business Services
Adobe NASDAQ ADBE 2019 Information Technology
Apple NASDAQ AAPL 2019 Information Technology
AvalonBay Communities NYSE AVB 2019 Real Estate
BOK Financial NASDAQ BOKF 2019 Finance
Boston Scientific NYSE BSX 2019 Manufacturing
Chevron NYSE CVX 2019 Oil, Gas, Energy & Utilities
Cisco Systems NASDAQ CSCO 2019 Information Technology
Costco Wholesale NASDAQ COST 2019 Retail
Delta Air Lines NYSE DAL 2019 Travel & Tourism
DocuSign NASDAQ DOCU 2019 Information Technology
Equity Residential NYSE EQR 2019 Real Estate
![Page 36: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
36
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
? Company Name Exchange Ticker Award Year Industry
Expedia Group NASDAQ EXPE 2019 Information Technology
Facebook NASDAQ FB 2019 Information Technology
FedEx NYSE FDX 2019 Transportation & Logistics
Goldman Sachs NYSE GS 2019 Finance
Google NASDAQ GOOGL 2019 Information Technology
HP NYSE HPQ 2019 Information Technology
HubSpot NYSE HUBS 2019 Information Technology
Illumina NASDAQ ILMN 2019 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
Intuit NASDAQ INTU 2019 Information Technology
Intuitive Surgical NASDAQ ISRG 2019 Manufacturing
Johnson & Johnson NYSE JNJ 2019 Biotech & Pharmaceuticals
lululemon NASDAQ LULU 2019 Retail
Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT 2019 Information Technology
Morgan Stanley NYSE MS 2019 Finance
NetApp NASDAQ NTAP 2019 Information Technology
NVIDIA NASDAQ NVDA 2019 Information Technology
Oshkosh Corporation NYSE OSK 2019 Manufacturing
Paycom NYSE PAYC 2019 Information Technology
Paylocity NASDAQ PCTY 2019 Information Technology
Salesforce NYSE CRM 2019 Information Technology
SAP NYSE SAP 2019 Information Technology
Southwest Airlines NYSE LUV 2019 Travel & Tourism
T-Mobile NASDAQ TMUS 2019 Telecommunications
Texas Instruments NASDAQ TXN 2019 Manufacturing
The Clorox Company NYSE CLX 2019 Manufacturing
Travelers Companies NYSE TRV 2019 Insurance
VMware NYSE VMW 2019 Information Technology
![Page 37: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
37
WH
AT
’S C
ULT
UR
E W
OR
TH
?
Footnotes
1. Includes only winners of the “U.S. Large” Best Places to Work list, which
consists of 100 employers per year with 1,000 or more employees.
2. Andrew Chamberlain, “Does Company Culture Pay Off? Analyzing Stock
Performance of “Best Places to Work” Companies,” Glassdoor Economic
Research, March 2015. Available at https://www.glassdoor.com/research/.
3. See, e.g., Yuan Ji, Oded Rozenbaum, and Kyle Welch (October 2017),
“Corporate Culture and Financial Reporting Risk: Looking Through the
Glassdoor,” SSRN working paper: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2945745.
4. The 2020 list of Best Places to Work companies is not included, as a
complete year of stock market performance had not yet occurred at the time
of this writing.
5. We excluded firms that we judged to be minor subsidiaries of larger
employers, as they may have employee culture that’s significantly different
from or not representative of their larger affiliated organizations.
6. The complete list of publicly-traded companies and stock tickers we
analyzed are presented in the Appendix.
7. In most cases, stock returns are calculated based on closing prices on
December 31 through closing prices on the following December 31. The
exceptions are 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018, in which either the
December 31 starting or ending date fell on a weekend day when U.S.
stock markets were closed. In these cases, the next nearest trading day in
December was used for closing prices.
8. In most years, investment periods are December 31 to the following
December 31. In cases where December 31 falls on a weekend and major
stock markets are closed, we use the final trading day of that December
instead as the simulated buy and sell date.
9. Historical data are drawn from Google Finance and Yahoo Finance. Both
sources attempt to adjust closing stock prices for the impact of stock splits,
and we rely on these sources’ methodologies for doing so. In a handful of
rare cases where the two sources disagree about closing stock prices, we
rely on 3rd-party data stock price data from http://www.tickertech.com.
10. The S&P 500 index represents just one of many possible benchmarks
for performance of Best Places to Work companies, and some readers
may want to also consider other benchmarks with different risk profiles or
other characteristics. All stock returns data used in this study is available
upon request from the authors.
11. A full list of included companies and their stock tickers is included in
the Appendix.
12. Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon in 2017, and is no longer listed
under a dedicated stock ticker.
13. Orbitz Worldwide was acquired by Expedia in 2015, and is no longer
listed under a dedicated stock ticker.
14. See for example, “Crowdsourced employer reviews and stock returns,”
by T. Clifton Green, Ruoyan Huang, Quan Wen, and Dexin Zhou, Journal of
Financial Economics, October 2019.
![Page 38: Stock Performance of Glassdoor’s Best Places to …...recognized as Best Places to Work over the course of 12 years1, including companies in retail, technology, manufacturing, finance,](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022042306/5ed2879c5250924cc42e4f9e/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
HEADQUARTERS
100 Shoreline Hwy
Mill Valley, CA 94941
__
WEB
glassdoor.com/research
Glassdoor combines all the latest jobs with millions of reviews and insights
to make it easy for people to find a job that is uniquely right for them. The
company is on a mission to help people everywhere find a job and company
they love. In pursuit of this mission, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly
informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like job
advertising and employer branding products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now
has reviews and insights for more than 900,000 companies located in more
than 190 countries. For more information, visit glassdoor.com.
About Glassdoor
© Glassdoor, Inc. All rights reserved