Best Big Employers In Puget Sound? Amazon, T-Mobile Lag Behind

SEATTLE, WA — Working for big companies based in the Seattle-Bellevue area is a mixed bag, according to local workers. Giants like Amazon and Alaska Airlines were rated lower on a new Forbes list than other big ones like Costco and Boeing.

For the America’s Best Employers 2019 list, Forbes partnered with the research firm Statista, surveying 30,000 Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees.

The popular grocery store Trader Joe’s — with 21 stores between Bellingham and Olympia — was ranked the No.1 employer in the United States for 2019, according to Forbes. The rankings released on Wednesday name the 500 best large employers in America.

In a profile on Trader Joe’s, Forbes writes that the Monrovia, California-based company has been rising steadily on its list, finally reaching the top spot this year after coming in second place in 2018. The magazine writes that the grocery store’s “consistent attention to the basics may be the secret to its success.”

Amazon, the biggest in employer in the region, came in at No. 146 on the list. The company has taken its lumps for working conditions in its corporate offices and warehouses. Amazon employs about 40,000 people in Washington, and has thousands of jobs open right now in Seattle and Bellevue.

Bellevue-based T-Mobile was the lowest ranked local company on the list.

Here's how Washington companies ranked on Forbes' list. Each company's overall ranking among the 500 biggest companies in the U.S. is in parentheses.

1. Costco (No 4.)
2. Boeing (No. 37)
3. Microsoft (No. 38)
4. Seattle Children's (No. 79)
5. Starbucks (No. 94)
6. REI (No. 112)
7. Amazon (No. 146)
8. Alaska Airlines (No. 169)
9. Expedia (No. 252)
10. Aerojet Rocketdyne (No. 325)
11. T-Mobile (No. 350)

The top 10 employers on Forbes’ 2019 list are:

1. Trader Joe’s
2. Southwest Airlines
3. Lilly
4. Costco Wholesale
5. Garmin
6. Google
7. Stanford University
8. SC Johnson
9. Mayo Clinic
10. Michelin Group