What Are The Best Companies For Career Growth Opportunities?

With all the talk about employee unhappiness and “The Great Stay,” we all want to know: Where are people not feeling stuck? What companies are providing growth opportunities to their employees?

Costco Wholesale, Capital One and Meta Platforms, to name a few. They were some of the top companies in this year’s American Opportunity Index, a ranking of the top 100 employers by advancement opportunities that’s compiled by the Burning Glass Institute, alongside the Schultz Family Foundation and the Harvard Business School’s Project on Managing the Future of Work.?

Unlike other rankings, the American Opportunity Index uses Burning Glass data rather than employee surveys. Not all the listmakers are as “sexy” as tech companies like Meta. W.W. Grainger, a maintenance, repair and operating products supplier topped the list this year, as its investment in leadership development has helped the company’s shares surpass the S&P 500 benchmark over the past five years, according to Bloomberg.??

The result is clear: Employees of the top 100 companies earn more and are more likely to be promoted than those at businesses not on the list. The top 100 firms are also more likely to hire workers without a college degree, compared to those lower in the ranking.??

But while these firms have helped their employees grow, the index found that promotions and raises are still happening at lower rates compared to last year. Some 60% of the studied employers decreased opportunities for promotion in the last year.?

With more workers staying in their jobs, there are fewer opportunities for workers to enter and advance, Matt Sigelman, president of Burning Glass Institute, told Forbes’ Jena McGregor. Even if layoff volume remains low, he said, “employers anxious about the economy are scaling back on making new hires.”?

Happy reading, and hope you all have a lovely week!

—Maria Gracia Santillana Linares, Careers Reporter

Work Smarter

Practical insights and advice from Forbes staff and contributors to help you succeed in your job, accelerate your career and lead smarter

• Do you use Google Workspace at the office? Here’s how to maximize all the apps.?
• As we close out Cybersecurity Awareness Month, know if your email has been hacked and what to do about it.?
• Become a ruthless time manager, and more tips on how to juggle a side hustle and your day job.

Spotlight: Working On Election Day? Here’s How To Cast Your Ballot

As we near Election Day next Tuesday, Forbes detailed everything you need to know about casting your ballot on or before November 5. While exact dates, times and policies will vary from state-to-state, we compiled a list of options to vote, even if you work on Tuesday, ranging from early voting to receiving paid time-off to vote.?

Have you made your voting plan yet? With one week left until this year’s presidential election, most states have now opened up early polling sites, and about 43 million people have already cast their vote, according to CNN.???

But if you’re looking at your calendar and find yourself working during Election Day, your employer could be legally required to give you time to vote. Indeed, the Census Bureau found that the most common reason Americans did not vote in the 2022 midterm elections (26.5% of registered voters) was because they were too busy with conflicting work or school schedules.?

Whether legally required or not, some companies have already given their employees time off—make sure to ask your HR department about what the policies are at your company! Patagonia, for example, is not only giving its employees time off to vote, but it is closing all of its stores today, October 29, to encourage workers to vote early and volunteer.?

So what are your options? We break them down below:

Voting Early

All in all, 47 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam allow voters to cast their ballots early, with early polling sites opening anywhere from 10 to 46 days before Election Day, as is the case in Minnesota.?

Employers, however, are not required to give you time off for early voting in all states where it’s available. In Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Kentucky, employees are entitled to take up to four hours of leave (two hours in Oklahoma) to either vote, apply for absentee voting or “execute” an absentee ballot.?

Voting By Mail

If you foresee that taking time off work to vote will be a problem, 39 states and Washington, D.C. allow all voters to use mail-in ballots. The deadline for mailing these varies by state, but as courts continue to rule on which final votes count, it’s safe to say the earlier the better.?

The remaining 11 states require voters to have eligible reasons to vote by mail, ranging from being out of the county on election day to being an election or poll worker. Again, these reasons vary by state.?

Voting Before or After Work

Depending on which state, county and precinct you live in, your polling place could be open before the start of a traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. The earliest polls open in certain precincts in Vermont at 5 a.m., though most early openings are at 6 a.m. nationwide.??

After-work voting might be trickier in some states, but as long as you’re in line by the time the polls close you’ll still be allowed to vote in all states, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.??

Voting During Work Hours

If you can’t vote before November 5 and will be working during poll hours, employers in 28 states and Washington, D.C. are required by state law to give their employees time off during the workday to vote.?

Twenty-one of them provide paid time off and allot, on average, two hours for employees to make it to the polls, vote and return to work. In seven of the states where time off is required by law, however, employees are not paid during their voting time.

Touch Base

News from the world of work

• Boeing’s striking workers once again denied the company’s latest contract proposal. At the center of their dissent is the issue of pensions: While the factory workers agreed to halt pension contributions in 2014, better economic conditions mean that pensions are making a quiet comeback, Forbes’ Jeremy Bogaisky reports.?
• Consulting firm EY fired dozens of staff last week over allegedly taking multiple training courses online at the same time, according to the Financial Times. While the consulting firm called this practice “cheating,” some fired workers believe it was an overreaction.??
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued new guidance to protect workers from being surveilled at work without their permission. In it, the agency states that companies using third-party reports of their employees’ previous work performance must follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act rules, the same that apply to loans and credit histories.

Quiz

In the latest return-to-office push, industrial giant 3M surprised some experts because it restricted its 3-day, in-person push to which employees?

A. All employees

B. Retail workers only?

C. C-suite executives only

D. Managers only

Click here to see if you got it right.