Best electronics gigs deep in the heart of Texas (and California)

Is working in Texas better than working anywhere else in the nation? For electronics designers, Fortune magazine's 2005 survey of the best companies to work for suggests that that scenario might be the case both now and historically (Link 1).

From 1998 to 2005, Texas Instruments, based in Dallas, and National Instruments, based in Austin, were the most consistent electronics companies among Fortune's "Top 100 Best Companies to Work For." TI missed only in 1999 and 2000, and NI didn't make it in 1999. Although the Lone Star duo generally occupied the bottom 30 of the top 100, no other electronics companies so regularly made the list.

What exactly does the list measure, and how does Fortune choose the companies? Working with a survey company, Fortune says it asks at least 350 employees in each company 57 questions about perks, benefits, policy, and culture (Link 2). This survey is part of the more well-known and larger beauty contest, the Fortune 500, which measures a dizzying number of criteria—from maternity-leave policies to lowest employee turnover.

This year, Fortune's list cites TI, which garnered a job-growth rating of zero, for its on-site driver's-license renewal, inhouse spas, priority on parents, and holiday bashes. The company also ranked in the top nine for best 401k-matching plan. NI, with a job-growth rating of moderate, received kudos for its playful spirit and innovation (Link 3).

And let's not forget Xilinx, Agilent, and Intel, which made the list every year except for 2002, 2003, and this year. Did Intel fall off the cliff? Of course not. It ranked number two in Fortune's America's-most-admired-companies category for semiconductors, just behind TI and just ahead of Analog Devices, which received the third spot.

For an engineering company, 21-year-old Xilinx of San Jose, CA, receives the most praise and the highest rankings. Profit-sharing was 9.2% of salary last year, and one of every five employees holds a patent. This year, the programmable-logic company came in second as the best small company to work for and ranked number five on the overall list. It ranked 10th last year, fourth in 2003, and 14th in 2001.

Add Palo Alto, CA-based Agilent, which made the list in 2002 and 2003, and California comes in strong as a good place to both live and work.

OK, so your company did not make any of the Fortune lists, and seeing your rivals there makes your blood boil. That's natural. It's like when the local newspaper fails to mention your son or daughter when he or she does something great academically or on the high-school playing field. Regardless, companies on the list are probably very good places to work.

However, such beauty contests are by their nature prone to unscientific judgments. And companies have to apply for Fortune to include them or to receive nominations, so it's likely that some campaign aggressively to get on the list. Unfortunately, though, the deadline for the 2006 rankings passed about six weeks ago.

Could things get any worse for Amtrak? By the time you read this column, with any luck, the company's signature train, the high-speed Acela Express, will be back in service. This time, brake problems downed the Acela. (One of my first EDN columns highlighted the Acela when a faulty pantograph alarm stopped the train cold midway between Boston and New York (Link 4).

Who should have made Fortune's list but didn't?

Write me at john.dodge@reedbusiness.com.