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Welcome to the Twitterloin
THE 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR
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meetings, for example, must not be repeated. They’re also given a tour of Twitter’s headquarters, including the Lodge, a communal area where two real log cabins—sourced from Craigslist—are used for meetings and social events (wine, beer, and kombucha are all on tap). The large television screens, roomy leather booths, and high-rise tables and chairs in the Lodge give the space a comfy, lounge-like feel. Elsewhere in the office employees sit in open-floor formation and are free to move about from place to place, toting laptops stickered with Twitter’s signature blue bird.
“It’s not working in a garage, but it’s also not a place where the future of the company is set in stone,” says Alex Roetter, a VP of engineering.
Indeed, Twitter’s fate is still up in the air. Even as the company’s revenue and earnings continue to rise, Wall Street has worried about its slowing user growth. Some investors have even called on Costolo to step down. (The CEO says he loves his job and told Fortune he doesn’t know where recent rumors of a possible departure came from.) The situation in Twitter’s own neighborhood has also been precarious at times.
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VERY DAY about 2,000 workers flock to Twitter’s offices on the outskirts of downtown San Francisco. (Another 1,600 employees work in other hubs around the world.) The so-called Twitterloin— located at the edge of the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood—is home to decrepit hotels, strip clubs, and many of the city’s homeless. It also has a high crime rate. Earlier this year a suitcase full of dismembered body parts was found nearby.
To be sure, Twitter isn’t the only tech company to have set up shop in the area: The city of San Francisco has offered extensive breaks on payroll taxes for companies that move into the longneglected neighborhood, and the list includes other hot tech startups like Square, Uber, and One Kings Lane. But Twitter was among the first to do so (the tax incentive is colloquially referred to as the “Twitter tax break”) and remains the largest tech employer in the neighborhood. The company’s execs say that they are not only committed to staying in the area but also encouraging their employees to help the local population—and claim the desire to do so is actually enticing workers.
“If you want to attract the best talent, this is key,” Caroline Barlerin, head of community outreach and philanthropy at Twitter, says of the company’s efforts to do good in the neighborhood.
Last year Twitter shelled out more than $367,000 to local nonprofits. Employees regularly volunteer at the nearby Boys & Girls Club, churches, and public schools, mentoring children and serving meals. The company has donated laptops and other equipment to neighborhood centers and provided its office space for nonprofits to host events and fundraisers. The company’s biggest push to aid the nearby community is the soon-to-be-opened Twitter NeighborNest, a learning center it is building just across the street from its office. The space will be fully staffed by Twitter volunteers and will offer free computer classes (with child care) to anyone in the area.
“I wanted the employees here to feel that we are putting down roots in the community,” says Costolo. “In order to do that they have to be a part of that community.”
While Twitter is still far from making a profound impact on the Tenderloin (some argue that its presence will have a detrimental effect on the area’s residents because of the inevitability of gentrification), its dicey location doesn’t seem to be scaring off employees. Neither does its uncertain ability to keep growing its user base at a fast enough rate. And young engineers aren’t the only ones drawn to Twitter’s Art Deco headquarters. Its offices have been visited by a steady stream of celebrities and world leaders, including Seth Rogen, Lena Dunham, and Hillary Clinton.
That kind of exposure is one of the things that has made Twitter a special place to work—even in a region flush with onsite massages, free snacks, and CrossFit sessions with CEOs.
SECRETS FROM A RECRUITER
— SEAMUS MULLARKEY, RECRUITING MANAGER, KPMG [NO. 63]
great culture is great for business
The publicly traded 100 Best Companies outperformed the S&P 500 nearly 2 to 1.
STOCKS FROM “100 BEST COMPANIES” LIST BOUGHT IN 1998 AND HELD
STOCKS FROM “100 BEST COMPANIES” LIST BOUGHT AND SOLD ANNUALLY
S&P 500 PERFORMANCE 6.5% 11.1% 12.7%
THRILL RIDES A “bucket list” party at Acuity included ziplines and a mechanical bull.
Dream Job… Insurance Salesman?
HOW A SMALL COMPANY IN WISCONSIN FOCUSED ON EMPLOYEES—AND BECAME THE THIRD-BEST WORKPLACE IN AMERICA. By Claire Zillman
3NO.
ACUITY
> SHEBOYGAN, WIS. > EMPLOYEES: 1,039
CUITY’S HOME OFFICE in Sheboygan,
AWis., already includes what the property and casualty insurance company says is the tallest flagpole in the U.S., at 400 feet. And when a 240,000-square-foot expansion of headquarters is completed in 2016, employees will get to ride on a 65-foot Ferris wheel—indoors.
Yes, these outsize landmarks are eye-catching. But CEO Ben Salzmann says they are gifts to the community. Founded in 1925 by farmers in rural Wisconsin looking to insure against the hazards of horseless carriages, Acuity, with $1.1 billion in annual revenue, makes an impressive debut at No. 3 on this year’s list, alongside global companies such as Google and Boston Consulting Group.
How does it compete? On top of perks like unlimited education reimbursement, compressed workweeks, a 10% company contribution to employees’ 401(k) funds, and healthy medical plans, Salzmann says Acuity has instilled employee loyalty by empowering them and giving them a say in the insurer’s future. Quarterly town hall meetings keep employees up to speed on the company’s performance. It also sponsors a “lunch with an officer” program, in which every employee gets a face-to-face meeting with executives. The company lets employees decide which organizations receive annual charity donations—it gave away just over $1 million last year—and invites them to take part in strategic planning. For all those reasons, workers have raved.
Yet the best example of employee enthusiasm can be found on YouTube in a short video bearing the title “Acuity Zombie Apocalypse.” It’s the collaborative work of 40 employees who dressed as the undead for a five-minute explainer about why they love their jobs. The video’s tag line? “Acuity is a great place to work now…and after the zombie apocalypse!” It took one day to film and two weeks to produce, all during working hours.
In addition to welcoming oddball initiatives, employees say that company leaders take their suggestions seriously and that contributions are rewarded individually. Stephanie Schreiber, a general manager of commercial lines underwriting, says she recently noticed that her department was getting rather big—Acuity had hired 124 employees in the past year. “It was harder for us to get to know everyone,” Schreiber says, so she suggested a cookout. Her manager obliged. “That’s something very simple,” she says, at a place where more than 1,000 co-workers know one another’s first names.
THE 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR
Offices
COOLEST OFFICES
Workplace envy: A peek inside some of the most creative and inspiring offices of the 100 best companies.
AUTODESK [NO. 52] Above: Treadmills with desktops keep workers moving while on the job.
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD [NO. 96] Right: Videogame developers have no shortage of distractions— or decor.
