Best Companies for Asians to Work For

Diversity Inc, released this week, their list of the top 10 best companies to work for, if you’re Asian. 401 companies applied for this honor, and the resulting list was chosen based on organizations that “demonstrated a long-term commitment to hiring, retaining, compensating and promoting Asian Americans”. Number one on the list was Abbott Laboratories (ranked number 16 overall in Diversity Inc’s rankings of companies).

I was surprised to hear there was such a list, and probably less surprised to see who was on it. Large, mainstream American companies made the list, and it’s good to see and hear about companies that promote diversity. I wrote recently about my own recent revelation about my company’s perceived glass ceiling, so knowing there are companies that are trying to remove these barriers is refreshing.

Reading about this list also made me reflect back on my first and second choices of companies to work for. When I graduated from college, I was lucky enough to have my choice of offers to select from, mostly on Wall Street. I chose JP Morgan as my first job, because it had made the Best 100 Companies to Work For list. When I decided to move to California, that same list made it easy to select my second corporate job. I wonder if I would have chosen differently if I had access to a list that showed companies that were making strides in treating Asian Americans equally. I will never know, but it’s good to know that option is available to those that are starting out now and to those looking for a new career move.