Amazon leads LinkedIn’s list of the 2024 top companies in technology and information to grow your career in the U.S. This ranking is based on unique LinkedIn data that evaluates companies on eight elements of career progression, the site said. The elements are: ability to advance, skills growth, company stability, external opportunity, company affinity, gender diversity, educational background and employee presence in the country.
Semiconductor technology company STMicroelectronics and recently renamed Dayforce are both new to the top tech companies ranking, LinkedIn said.
The tech companies on the LinkedIn list are very focused on upskilling to keep employees growing and learning, especially in AI skills, “as the technology gets integrated in both internal and external functions at companies across the board,” Tanya Dua, LinkedIn News tech editor, told TechRepublic.
Among the specific examples of this that Dua cited include Amazon, which has committed to spending more than $1.2 billion to provide free skills training to employees, along with prepaid tuition programs, paid apprenticeships, on-the-job learning opportunities, industry certifications and more.
“The company has also launched the ‘Amazon AI Ready’ (initiative) to make AI education accessible to anyone who wants to learn and is providing $12 million in generative AI scholarships,’’ Dua said.
SEE: Amazon Offers Free Generative AI and Machine Learning Courses (TechRepublic)
AT&T invested $132 million in employee training in 2023, and less than 5% of all AT&T roles require a college degree, according to Dua. The company has also rolled out the Ask AT&T platform, which allows employees “to tap into AI-powered, out-of-the-box capabilities around code generation, meeting summarization, customer assistance, and more,” she said.
Verizon makes a significant investment in tuition assistance every year and also offers programs like the rotational Network Leadership Development program to help employees move from entry-level roles into senior positions, she said. “AI training programs teach employees the fundamentals of machine learning and data analytics, and the company also hosts regular AI hackathons,’’ she said.
Verizon is using AI in areas like developer productivity and customer service, where 1,000 agents who are part of a pilot program have been able to address customer concerns faster using generative AI, according to Dua.
“The company offers AI training programs including workshops, online courses, on-the-job training, and AI/GenAI hackathons,’’ she said. “Verizon has also established policies and guidelines regarding the use of AI/GenAI in the workplace to address issues such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the responsible use of AI/GenAI.”
DOWNLOAD this eLearning and Continuing Education Policy from TechRepublic Premium
Alphabet is another example of a company promoting career growth, offering the
“Googler-to-Googler” peer learning and coaching platform for employees to either coach or learn from their colleagues in different fields across the company, Dua added.
Learning new skills is one of the top three career goals professionals have for 2024, Dua said. “A recent LinkedIn survey found that 68% of working Americans say that continuing education and upskilling is important to them when applying for or taking a new job,’’ she noted. “Employees are hungry for all types of skills, and in fact, we’ve recently seen LinkedIn members add 680 million skills to their profiles, up 80% year-over-year,” when comparing 2023 to 2022.
Further, nine out of 10 global executives say soft skills are more important than ever, and LinkedIn’s recent Most In-Demand Skills report found that soft skills such as communication, leadership and teamwork are among the most searched-for skills on the site, according to Dua.
“We’ve also seen a big jump in people upskilling around AI — LinkedIn data shows a 65% increase in learning hours for the top 100 AI courses,’’ she said. Dua said the top 10 most popular LinkedIn Learning AI courses are free through July 1, 2024.
Many of the perks LinkedIn is seeing have been around for a while, Dua said, “but companies are ramping up in certain areas like upskilling, with a focus on AI. We also see many companies focused on retention, with programs and perks designed to keep employees happy, growing, and staying put.”
For example, AT&T is focused on employees’ total well-being, and offers no-cost mental health counseling and coaching, and family-inclusive benefits like doula support, subsidized child care, and no-cost fertility and postpartum support, Dua said.
Verizon offers inclusive benefits that start on day one, five weeks of PTO, and 24/7 backup child/elder care, she said. “The company also has a powerful 401(k) plan and matches student loan payments.”
Comcast offers life milestone benefits starting on the first day of employment, including adoption assistance, childcare resources, pet insurance and more, according to Dua.
In addition to the top tech companies list, LinkedIn released this year’s rankings of the top large companies and top midsize companies in the U.S. for career growth. In comparison with last year’s top companies list, 44% of the companies on this year’s main ranking are new, Dua said.
In addition to the eight pillars that have been shown to lead to career progression, LinkedIn determined that to be eligible for inclusion on the list, companies must have had 5,000 or more global employees with at least 500 in the U.S. as of Dec. 31, 2023.
