At Burns & McDonnell, hiring managers carefully review thousands of applications to fill internship positions because when the company offers a job to a new graduate, it’s viewed less as a temporary jumping off point in their careers and more as a long-term commitment. Leslie Duke, chair and CEO at Burns & McDonnell, says she’s well aware that engineering is a “nomadic industry,” and that most people are apt to move jobs frequently because “they want that next coolest job ever built on their resume.” But Burns & Mac, as Duke affectionately refers to the company, is determined to keep their engineers on board. “We want them to stay for life,” she says.
To incentivize employees to stay, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned, and gives new hires a stake in the company the moment they walk in the door. The company also offers a wealth of benefits. In addition to a childcare center and a health clinic on campus, employees are entitled to a 9/80 work schedule, which enables them to take every other Friday off if they work an extra hour during the days they are on. Engineers are also encouraged to move up and around the company, which includes its 75 locations.
The result? Employees at the company are happy and likely to stay, as evidenced by the fact that Burns & McDonnell ranked No. 7 on Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Best Employers for Engineers 2025.
To create the ranking, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 22,000 engineers working for companies with at least 1,000 people within the country. Respondents were asked how likely they would be to recommend their current employer, their previous employer (within the past two years), and companies they knew through peers in their industry, or through friends or family who worked there. Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on such criteria as: benefits, professional development opportunities, and workplace flexibility. Data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista employee surveys was included. Responses were tallied, and the 175 companies with the highest scores made our list of America’s Best Employers For Engineers 2025. For more on the methodology, see below.
Tech giants led the ranking, with Sony, Apple, Google, and Microsoft earning spots 1 through 4, respectively. But the list wasn’t solely composed of IT companies. The employers that made the list spanned a range of industries, including aerospace (NASA, No. 5), utilities (Sempra, No. 10), professional services (CAI, No. 28) and food and beverages (Cargill. No. 31).
For many engineers, particularly those early in their careers, one thing that can set a company apart is having strong leaders to look up to, says Jennifer Scott, executive vice president of strategic partnerships and events for the Society of Women Engineers. For women specifically, having female leaders like Duke in positions of authority, can be especially motivating because employees are “looking to see leaders who look like them, who are in engineering and technology and who’ve taken that technical role forward to advance their career,” she says.
Engineers are also seeking employers that are consistently investing in their employees “versus a kind of roller coaster,” says Scott who has seen employers waffle in their commitments to employees. “One day, they have employee resource groups; the next day it’s gone. One day they support continuing education, the next it’s gone,” she says. But “an employer that stays the course will really stand out in their investment in their employees and their families.”
Energy company Sempra invests in its employees and their development by offering online courses from ivy league colleges, in-house instruction, and tuition reimbursement. The company also prioritizes the career growth of its employees. Case in point: Sempra’s subsidiary companies (San Diego Gas & Electric and SoCalGas) have dedicated employee groups that are tasked with identifying engineers internally who may be ready to move into leadership positions. The executives in the group make sure that promising employees “have the development opportunities they need to advance as engineers,” says Deborah Martin, vice president of people and culture and chief diversity officer at Sempra.” In addition, engineers at the company are considered for all types of positions because, Martin says, the company recognizes that engineers can apply their skills and critical thinking to a range of roles.
The Michelin Group (No. 8), which is known for manufacturing tires, prides itself on giving its engineers opportunities to innovate. Matthew Cabe, president and CEO of Michelin North America, notes that though the company is 135 years old, its engineers are working on cutting edge projects, including an airless, connected wheel with a rechargeable tread made with renewable or recycled materials.
At Google, ambitious projects are extremely appealing for technical employees, says Lorraine Twohill, the company’s chief marketing officer. And while some of the appeal is centered on Google’s behemoth tech projects, engineers are also enthralled by the company’s expansive, often purely scientific research projects in everything from breast cancer to sustainability. “No matter where you work in the company,” says Twohill, “you feel like you’re adding value and being helpful to people.”
For the full list of America’s Best Employers For Engineers, click here.
Methodology
To create our inaugural list of America’s Best Employers For Engineers, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 22,000 engineers working for companies with at least 1,000 people within the country. Respondents were asked how likely they would be to recommend their current employer, their previous employer (within the past two years), and companies they knew through peers in their industry, or through friends or family who worked there. Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on such criteria as: benefits, professional development opportunities, and workplace flexibility. Data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista employee surveys was included.
Responses were tallied and analyzed, with data from current employees weighted more heavily than older data or than responses from past employees or people who had never worked at the company. Each employer was then given a score, and the top 175 companies made our list of America’s Best Employers For Engineers 2025.
As with all Forbes lists, companies pay no fee to participate or be selected. To read more about how we make these lists, click here. For questions about this list, please email listdesk [at] forbes.com.