4 VA Companies Ranked Among Forbes’ Best Employers

VIRGINIA — Workers gave high marks to a handful of companies headquartered in Virginia in a survey for Forbes’ annual lists of America’s Best Large Employers and America’s Best Midsize Employers.

Virginia-based companies in the top 100 on Forbes’ large employers list include:

• Capital One Company ranked 33 on Forbes' large employers list. Headquartered in McLean, the company employs 55,943 in the banking and financial services industry
• Navy Federal Credit Union ranked 69 on Forbes' large employers list. Headquartered in Vienna, the company employs 14,700 in the banking and financial services industry
• University of Virginia ranked 73 on Forbes' large employers ist. Headquartered in Charlottesville, UVA employ 17,502 in the education industry.

Other employers based in Virginia that were among the 600 companies Forbes ranked for its large employers list include:

• University of Virginia Health System ranked 117 among large employers in Virginia. Headquartered in Charlottesville, the company employs 28,000 in the healthcare and social services industry.
• Freddie Mac ranked 119th on the large employers list. Headquartered in McLean, the company has 7,839 employees in the professional services industry.
• Northrop Grumman ranked 121 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Falls Church, the company has 95,000 in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Booz Allen Hamilton ranked 149 on the large employers list. Headquartered in McLean, the company has 29,300 employees in the professional services industry.
• Hilton Worldwide Holdings ranked 177 on the large employers list. Headquartered in McLean, the company has 159,000 employees in the professional services industry.
• CarMax ranked 183 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Richmond, the company has 32,647 employees in the retail and wholesale industry.
• General Dynamics ranked 227 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company has 89,460 employees in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Estes Express Line ranked 256 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Richmond, the company has 21,700 employees in the transportation and logistics.
• Mars ranked 264 on the large employers list. Headquartered in McLean, the company has 125,000 employees in the packaged goods industry.
• CACI International ranked 315 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company has 23,000 employees in the aerospace and defense industry.
• HII ranked 325 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Newport News, the company has 43,000 employees in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Bechtel ranked 339 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company has 50,000 employees in the construction, chemicals and raw materials industry.
• Lidl ranked 438 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Arlington, the company has 314,000 employees in retail and wholesale industry.
• Serco ranked 478 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Herndon, the company has 43,000 employees in the aerospace and defense industry.
• Leidos ranked 479 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company has 41,000 employees in the IT software and services industry.
• SAIC ranked 503 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company has 26,000 employees in the IT software and services industry.
• Volkswagen Group of America ranked 577 on the large employers list. Headquartered in Herndon, the company has 672,800 employees in the automotive (automobiles and suppliers) industry.

Virginia-based companies in the top 100 on Forbes’ midsize employers list include:

• Deltek ranked 100 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Herndon, the company has 3,400 employees in the IT software and services industry.

Other employers based in Virginia that were among the 400 companies Forbes ranked for its mid-sized employers list include:

• Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters ranked 155 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Norfolk, the company has 4,000 employees in the healthcare and social services industry.
• Ellucian Company ranked 215 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Reston, the company is in the IT software & services industry.
• STIHL Inc. ranked 237 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, the company has 2,100 employees in the semiconductors, electronics, and electrical engineering industry.
• Apex Systems ranked 298 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Glen Allen, the company is in the business services and supplies industry.
• Prince William County ranked 318 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Manassas, the company has 4,000 employees in the government services industry.
• Cognosante ranked 361 on the mid-size employers list. Headquartered in Falls Church, the company is in the IT software and service industries.

The ranking, produced with the market research firm Statista, is based on surveys of employees at U.S. companies. Companies with 1,000-5,000 workers were categorized as midsize companies, and those with more than 5,000 were categorized as large employers.

Responses were given by current employees who had worked for the company within the past two years, and individuals familiar with the company through friends, family or industry peers.
Greater weight was given to the evaluations from current and former employees, Forbes said. This year, data from the past three surveys was included and weighted more heavily to identify companies that have received high rankings consistently over time.

Tech industry giants Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Meta are among at least 139 companies that have collectively laid off more than 34,000 workers so far in 2024, yet those companies all found a place on the best large employers list, Forbes said.

Nationally, the Top 10 large employers on Forbes’ list are:

1. Novo Nordisk, a New Jersey-based drugs and biotechnology company employing 55,000 people;
2. Garmin, a Kansas-based semiconductor, electronics and electrical engineering company employing 19,000 people;
3. Cook Children’s Healthcare System, a Texas-based health care and social services system employing 9,000 people.
4. Children’s Hospital Colorado, a health care and social services system employing 8,000 people;
5. Delta Air Lines, a Georgia-based transportation and logistics company employing 95,000 people;
6. In-N-Out Burger, a California-based quick, fast, casual chain employing 39,000 people;
7. Houston Methodist, a Texas-based health care and social services system employing 29,730 people;
8. eXp Realty, a Washington-based business services and supplies company employing 8,800 people;
9. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, a Tennessee-based health care and social services system employing 5,001 people;
10. The University of Kansas Health System, a health care and social services system employing 15,000 people.

In the midsize category, the top 10 companies in the United States are:

1. California State University, Los Angeles (education);
2. Edgewell Personal Care, based in Connecticut (packaged goods);
3. Alzheimer’s Association, based in Illinois (health care and social services);
4. Businessolver, based in Iowa (IT software and services);
5. Jupiter Medical System, based in Florida (health care and social services);
6. City Tech, CUNY, based in New York (education);
7. Caltech, based in California (education);
8. Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, based in New York (insurance)
9. Utz Quality Foods, based in Pennsylvania (food, soft beverages, alcohol and tobacco);
10. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, based n Washington, D.C. (government services).