7 MN Companies Among Best Employers For Women: Forbes

MINNESOTA — Seven Minnesota companies are among the best employers in the country for women, according to an inaugural ranking from Forbes released Tuesday. A total of 300 American companies made Forbes’ list.

The No. 1 company on Forbes’ list was Iowa-based Principal Financial Group. According to Forbes, 59 percent of the company’s employees are women and the company offers benefits like flexible work schedules and onsite child care.

Principal Financial Group also helps women move up in the corporate world, Forbes says.

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Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine was ranked No. 2 on the list. According to Forbes, women comprise 77 percent of Penn Medicine’s workforce and 55 percent of its executive positions. Five of Penn Medicine’s seven CEO positions are held by women, according to Forbes.

Hallmark Cards, BayCare and Oregon Health & Science University closed out the top five spots overall on the list.

Here are the seven Minnesota companies that made the list:

• No. 14 Lawrence Merchandising — Services Business Services & Supplies — Plymouth, Minnesota — 1,001 Employees
• No. 46 Caribou Coffee — Restaurants — Brooklyn Center, Minnesota — 4,649 Employees
• No. 72 Mayo Clinic Healthcare & Social — Rochester, Minnesota — 63,078 Employees
• No. 80 3M Packaged Goods — St. Paul, Minnesota — 36,000 Employees
• No. 89 U.S. Bank Banking and Financial Services — Minneapolis, Minnesota — 71,191 Employees
• No. 254 Ecolab Business — Services & Supplies — St. Paul, Minnesota — 47,565 Employees
• No. 266 General Mills Food — Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco — Minneapolis, Minnesota — 38,000 Employees

Forbes used market research firm Statista to come up with the list. According to Forbes, Statista surveyed 40,000 Americans, including 25,000 women, working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. The surveys were anonymous.

Respondents rated companies on criteria like working conditions and diversity and were asked whether they’d recommend their employers to others. Statista looked for potential gender gaps in the responses, and women were also asked to rate employers on factors like parental leave and pay equity, according to Forbes.

Read Forbes’ full report about the list here and click here to view Forbes’ ranking of all 300 employers.

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