Programmers, engineers and IT staff are in-demand. As of this writing, the United States is experiencing “full employment.” The mission of these Tech Culture Awards is quite simple. We have surveyed and selected companies who are looking for the best and brightest tech talent and are willing to go the extra mile to provide what they believe is the ideal tech culture.
We realize no list can be perfect or fully complete because – work cultures are constantly changing and to survey and evaluate all potential applicants could take a century or more.
To narrow the field, in order to be eligible to win, organizations must fill out a detailed questionnaire and submit a processing fee. The form itself is self-selecting – meaning, you have a good sense if you are able to answer the questions in an impressive manner or not before you even apply.
Our editorial team spent months pouring over these submissions, reviewing photos, cross-checking details where possible and assembling the detailed justification for why each company was selected.
We further poured over submissions and gave each a grade and summary while pulling out impact statements we feel are differentiators.
Our hope is to capture the spirit of each company’s commitment to building what they believe is the ideal tech culture and presenting it to you in a digestible format. Our biggest challenge was picking what not to share because so many applications were brimming with important differentiators.
After reading through the responses, what has become quite apparent is there are geographic and demographic variables which need to be taken into account. For example, free alcohol may be more attractive in specific age groups. Having a location in an expensive city may not be desirable for people who don’t want such an expensive home. Likewise, having a location away from the city will be a turn-off to some people as well.
The point is, you shouldn’t just look at the grade we give – read through the submissions to get a sense for yourself if each company fits your needs.
Please keep in mind the perspective of the answers may vary from third-person – when we are interpreting their answers to first-person when we believe it’s best to not edit at all. We feel these responses are what you would get if you were in an interview situation and asked the company specific work-culture questions.
In addition, we sometimes decided to exclude a section from one company or highlight the same section from another if we felt the answer added little additional value or great value respectively. In some cases confidentiality requests prevent us from sharing entire answers with you.
It is our hope that the annual Tech Culture Awards become the industry standard measure which separates the truly best environments worth competing for.
If your real-world experience agrees with what we’ve presented or differs, we want to know about it. Please respond in the comments below each entry.
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COMPANY NAME |
LOCATION |
GRADE |
SUMMARY |
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Santa Clara, CA |
A |
Check off all the dream boxes for many tech workers; Work in AI, Cybersecurity and in Silicon Valley for a company backed by former Cisco CEO John Chambers. Great benefits and worker recognition opportunities. |
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Raleigh, NC |
A |
Work in the exciting telecom API/CPaaS space. Great work/life balance. Friendly people, great weather. “Vacation embargos” that forbid team members at every level from checking email when they’re supposed to be relaxing. |
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Oslo, Norway |
A |
Work in Europe at a company where teamwork is valued, a very flat hierarchical structure, solid collaboration tools and above-average worker retention. |
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Baskingstoke, Hampshire, UK |
A |
“A fun, fast-paced company, which gives you big responsibility right from the start,” “The best place I have ever worked.” There is overwhelming evidence that this is an amazing work environment from turnover of 5%, great opportunities for travel, rapid growth, perks galore, work/life balance, charitable giving, advancement, training and benefits. |
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Scottsdale, AZ |
A |
Annual spirit day, work passionately to cultivate a culture of engagement, Nextiva Cares philanthropy arm, annual on-site health fair, training classes, 2,000 meals given to those in need, “work hard, play hard” mentality, Employees receive custom Nextiva items on their annual “Nextiversaries.” Free weekly breakfast and lunch catered by local vendors and healthy snacks. Core values: agile, innovating, embrace failing as a part of the road to success. |
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Boston, MA |
A |
Great perks and benefits, recognition with cash incentives, family-feel, room for advancement, 12 weeks maternity, solid collaboration tools and a no-nonsense place to work. “Continuous learning” is one of their core values and they are a pure meritocracy. |
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Greenville, SC |
A |
Employee empowerment and opinions valued, solid advancement opportunities, travel stipend, $15 million given to community, exotic meeting places, chicken wing eating competitions, tenure of over six years on average. |
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Denver, CO |
A+ |
The company is a leader in digital communications. “Gridders” are encouraged to fill out frequent engagement surveys and almost 100% do. Corporate culture driven by the 4H’s: Happy, Hungry, Humble and Honest. Lots of room for promotion, tuition reimbursement, many training opportunities and the opportunity to give anonymous feedback to management. Best of all, meal allotments at local restaurants and potato sack races on the beach! |
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Mississauga, ON, Canada |
A |
Innovative culture, focus on growth, innovation and fun, weekly Lunch & Learns, no co-pay, full family coverage, transparent and flat organization and room for advancement via hyper growth. Company wants you to be able to broaden your skillset: “An Android Developer today can be an iOS Developer tomorrow.” |
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Sarasota, FL |
A |
A fun and techie culture, solid employee recognition, trophies, awards and sales incentives with good perks and inventive meeting places. |
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San Jose, CA |
A |
Great tech pedigree and a start-up culture which believes in cubes, not open spaces. Free lunches, charitable focus, importance placed on worker satisfaction, personal development, focus on speed in development and network transformation. |