Container Store Heads FORTUNE's List of 100 Best Companies to Work for in America

In an impressive debut, the Dallas-based retail chain Container Store came in No. 1 on FORTUNE's third annual list of "100 Best Companies to Work For in America." Rounding out the top five were Southwest Airlines (No. 2), whose profit sharing and liberal options made millionaires of dozens of its employees; Cisco Systems (No. 3), the computer network giant that offers on-the-spot bonuses of $2,000 for exceptional performance; TDIndustries (No. 4), the employee-owned construction company that indexes health-insurance premiums to incomes; and Synovus Financial (No. 5), the bank holding company that generously supplements up to 21% of base pay with stock options, bonuses and profit sharing. The Container Store won high marks for paying much more than its competitors, sharing daily sales information with all of its employees, and offering sabbaticals after ten years on the job -- perks reflective of those offered by many of the FORTUNE 100 Best. The rankings, which appear in the January 10 issue of FORTUNE, are available at www.fortune.com on Monday, December 20, at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The big story coming out of the 1999 rankings is how in an ultratight labor market -- where human capital is now, more than ever, a company's most valuable asset -- employers will stop at virtually nothing to attract talent. Companies on the 100 Best list were exceptional for the lengths to which they went to help employees balance their home and work lives. A total of 70 companies on this year's list offer flexible schedules to most or all of their employees, and whereas only one company on the list offered on-site day care in 1984, 29 do so now.

The FORTUNE 100 Best list also suggests that companies that do right by employees, do right by stockholders, with shares of companies on the list rising 37 percent annually over the last three years, compared with 25% for the S&P 500. Qualcomm, the San Diego-based developer of wireless technology, led the way with a 1,400% increase in 1999. The 100 Best also do a good job of nurturing the financial side of their relationships with their employees. Some 37 of the 58 publicly held companies on the list offer options to all employees. At No. 8-ranked Charles Schwab, more than a thousand employees have over $1 million in their accounts from generous stock grants. The 100 Best also do their utmost to address their employees' intellectual needs. Some 53 offer on-site university courses, and 91 have tuition reimbursement, with 24 reimbursing more than $4,000 a year.

FORTUNE's 1999 picks for the 100 Best Companies to Work For come from 20 different fields and 30 states. While 42 are in information technology or financial services, the list identified stars from retailing, pipe manufacturing, supermarkets, the jam business, and even law firms. Many (42) are private, but 58 are publicly traded.

FORTUNE was assisted in compiling the list by Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, best-selling authors of The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. More than any other national survey of companies, the FORTUNE 100 Best is employee-driven, with two-thirds of the scoring based on the answers employees give on the employee survey conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco. This year some 33, 457 randomly selected employees filled out the survey. To be eligible, a company had to be at least ten years old and have a minimum of 500 full-time employees. Levering and Moskowitz, who have been tracking the best companies since 1981, picked the 236 candidates for this year's list from their database of more than 1,000 companies.

While this year's 100 Best list reflects some of the benefits of a worker-driven economy, Jerry Useem explores the darker underbelly of where work is headed in the new millennium in his article "Welcome to the New Company Town," on page 62. Americans are working longer, harder, and faster, and according to Useem, the "New Company Town" reflects the lengths to which companies will go to win the battle for that most precious commodity of all: time. In what may effectively blur beyond distinction the line between work and non-work life, companies are creating services to solve all kinds of "annoyances" in a worker's life -- from day care to concierge services that walk the dog, buy theater tickets, and deliver dry cleaning. They are also filling gaps that were once considered part of people's private lives, by offering such amenities as basketball courts and weight rooms on premises, as well as after-hours activities that offer everything from Bible study to clubs for chess, gardening, scuba diving and charity work.

Forty-six of the 100 Best Companies offer take-home meals to liberate people from having to cook dinner, 26 offer personal concierge services. Many offer nap-time facilities to keep alertness and productivity high. As one sociologist observes: "companies are taking the best aspects of home and incorporating them into work," which, according to Useem begs the question: Do these new amenities really ease overwork? Or do they just make it easier to overwork?