Revisiting the 2007 Best Places To Work List

Let's see how the best companies of 2007 have aged over the last 17 years. I'm sure they are all doing incredible, but just wanted to make sure.

I am writing this from Starbucks in the East Village on St Mark’s Pl & Avenue A. It is raining outside and it feels like Fall. I’m drinking a Grande Iced Coffee with 2 Pumps of Classic Syrup. 8.5/10

For those that don’t remember, 2008 was the beginning of the Great Recession. With that being said, I wanted to dive into what were considered the best companies to work for just prior to the worst economic event since the Great Depression. I wanted to answer the following question: “Are we sure we would have had a recession if we didn’t rank Container Store as the 4th Best Place To Work in the World?”

Without further ado, let’s check out the rankings as they stood in 2007, with Google leading the pack.

The first thought I had when I read this list was: “I have no clue what half of these companies are.” I then immediately wondered how pissed off I would be if I worked at McKinsey and saw that Boston Consulting Group was on this list and McKinsey wasn’t. Was McKinsey around in 2007? Definitely, right? If you are a BCG employee, how quickly are you ripping this out of the newspaper and framing it on your desk. How quickly are you sending this via AOL Instant Messenger to your buddy at McKinsey?

Let’s break this bad boy down and see how far these companies have come, almost 20 years later. I’m sure they have all continued to improve and are still the tremendous places to work as they were in ‘07. Right? Right? WRONG.

#1 - Google

LOL. This is so funny because in ‘07 Google was redefining the idea of an office, and people were not aware that the only reason for it was to increase productivity and keep people at the office working. I love that people at one point really thought Google just liked their employees a lot. I cannot believe Google installed “Nap Pods” and people were like “wow Google really cares about their employees.” NOPE! And hey, get your ass out of the nap pod in 30 mins. Suzie from Cloud Transformation has the 2-2:30 slot reserved.

Side note, if you haven’t seen The Internship, it’s frickin’ awesome. It’s Wedding Crashers but instead of being addicted to hitting on chicks at weddings, Vince Vaughn and What’s His Face are addicted to self-improvement.

#2 - Genentech

What the hell is Genentech? This sounds like the front company for an evil mastermind that is trying to destroy Spiderman once and for all.

Turns out, Genentech is a Biotech Corporation in San Francisco. So yeah it is probably a front for an evil mastermind. In this case, the evil mastermind is Venture Capital.

Fast forward to today, and turns out Genentech isn’t such a great place to work for, if you do have the pleasure of not getting laid off.

Bay Area biotech firm lays off dozens more scientists just months after 436-worker

#4 - Container Store

I think this could have been the greatest economic indicator of all time. When your economy is actively celebrating and commemorating CONTAINER STORE, you have issues. I cannot imagine a more boring, lame, and mindless job. Can you imagine being on the Leadership Team at Container Store? “Yep. We are really seeing a growth in our large containers, however, small containers are not doing that well.” *audible gasp*

I also need everyone to stop what you’re doing and go the Container Store Website for Investor Relations. They haven’t updated it since 2007!!! No frickin’ wonder they aren’t the best place to work for anymore. They laid off the web development team!

And believe it or not, the Container Store has not stood the test of time:

“The New York Stock Exchange has notified the home goods retailer that it’s out of compliance with average closing price rules, with its common stock under $1.00 for more than 30 consecutive trading days. The company said it’s working to return to compliance, and has six months to accomplish that. The stock remains listed and will continue to trade in the meantime while the company considers a reverse stock split.”

I feel bad for the Container Store. I don’t know why, because what an insane business, but you never want to see a slow death like this. It’s like going bald. Container Store is so balding right now it’s embarrassing. Container Store has been wearing the same baseball hat for 6 years, just hanging on for dear life. It’s over, Container Store, just embrace it.

#16 - Starbucks Coffee

Criminally underrated. Starbucks in 2007 was like the Bulls in the 90s. Starbucks was the coolest thing of all time (it still is). I would actually give up everything to work as a barista at Starbucks in the mid 2000s. I honestly don’t think I would land the job. I think if I had to rank my likelihood of landing jobs at any of the companies on this list, Starbucks would be near the bottom. Probably not below a hospital, but somewhere around there.

Also wait, side note. How are The New England Patriots or the PGA Tour not on this list. Those are clearly the best companies to work for? I think the integrity of this list is compromised. Uhhhhh yeah I think I’d rather play QB for the Patriots versus being the Chief Information Officer at Container Store.

#19 - Alston & Bird

Fake Company

#25 - Ernst & Young

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at the moment we all have been waiting for. Our first Big 4 Accounting Firm has cracked the list.

As a graduate of the University of Illinois Business School, I am well acquainted with the fascination/obsession from Accounting students over the Big 4 Accounting Firms. I almost was one of them, but then I took Accounting 201, and then I took it again, and then I took it over the Summer at a community college. So at that point I realized the accounting route might not be my jam. There is nothing more thrilling than dropping a class 1 week before the Final Exam after getting a 24% on the Midterm. So, I have nothing but respect for my accounting friends.

I decided to conduct some investigative journalism, and I texted my friend to hear his thoughts about working at EY. For confidentiality, let’s just call him Sandrew Avage. Here is what he said when asked about his thoughts of working at EY:

And that says it all right there. He has NOTHING to say about working at EY. The silence is deafening. I am, personally, speechless. Imagine working somewhere and not even caring about the company enough to give a statement. You know, they say that the opposite of love is indifference. And I think that is on display right here.

Let me know if you agree with my thoughts, or if any of the rankings shocked you. Sound off in the comments. Or I’ll just add everyone who acknowledges this to a group chat and we can all riff. It would probably be my mom, my buddy from college, his girlfriend, and my sister.

- Jack