These are the Memphis companies that made Forbes' Best Employers by State list

John Klyce, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read

Looking for a new job and unsure of where to turn?

Forbes has released its 2023 Best Employers by State list, and of the 76 organizations ranked in the Tennessee section, eight are headquartered in Memphis.

The highest scoring local employer was St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which has about 5,000 staffers and finished in fifth place. The next highest ranked Memphis group was the law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, a major law firm with a nationwide presence. It took 17th place, and just behind it in the 18th spot was the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), the state’s flagship medical and professional health school.

Not far from UTHSC was Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, which has around 11,000 employees and took 24th place. And in 29th place was another health care group, Regional One Health.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare gives an inside look at its Career Launch Academy. The program is for high school juniors and seniors from Memphis-Shelby County Schools and local charter schools who have expressed an interest in careers in healthcare. Dominic McClendon, Chemistry supervisor, speaks to the students about a career in the labs. The tour was given on July 7, 2023 at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

You have to scroll through another 21 organizations before you get to the next highest Memphis-based organization, delivery services giant FedEx, which finished in 50th place and is the city’s largest employer. It has roughly 600,000 employees worldwide.

A few spots behind it was the financial institution First Horizon. It finished in 55th place and has 7,500 employees.

The final local organization that made the cut was the University of Memphis, which has around 2,500 employees and took 63rd place.

There are also other employers on the list that aren’t headquartered in Memphis but have a significant presence here. For instance, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which took first place, is technically based in Chattanooga; but it has an office here. Similarly, Costco Wholesale, which finished in second place, is based in Issaquah, Washington, but has two big stores in the Memphis area.

And though medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew — which finished in 31st place — is headquartered in the United Kingdom, it maintains a major operation in Memphis.

Here’s some other examples of organizations on the list that aren’t headquartered in the Bluff City, but have presences here:

No. 30: Michigan-based Kellogg (31,000 employees)

No. 33: Oregon-based Nike (79,100 employees)

No. 47: Minneapolis-based Target (440,000 employees)

No. 60: Birmingham-based Regions Financial (20,073 employees)

No. 62: Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A (140,000 employees)

No. 65: Seattle-based Starbucks (258,000 employees)

To be considered for the list, organizations had to have at least 500 employees. Forbes partnered with the market research firm Statista to develop the ranking, and 70,000 workers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia were anonymously surveyed. Participants were asked to evaluate their employer based on factors like working conditions, diversity, compensation packages, potential for development and company image. They were also asked if they would recommend their employer to others.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The Memphis companies that made Forbes' Best Employers by State list