Apple Plummets to Lowest Ranking Ever in Glassdoor's Annual List of Best Places to Work

Apple has ranked 84th on Glassdoor's annual list of the best companies to work for in the United States, after finishing no lower than 36th every year since 2009. In fact, heading into 2012, Apple was 10th on the same list.

apple employees
It is Apple's lowest-ever finish over the decade that Glassdoor has published these Employees' Choice Awards:

• 2018: 84th
• 2017: 36th
• 2016: 25th
• 2015: 22nd
• 2014: 35th
• 2013: 34th
• 2012: 10th
• 2011: 20th
• 2010: 22nd
• 2009: 19th

Apple trailed well behind several other technology companies in the rankings, including first-place Facebook, fifth-place Google, 21st-place LinkedIn, 31st-place Adobe, 39th-place Microsoft, and 65th-place Yahoo.

It's not just technology companies that are on the list, with fast food chain In-N-Out Burger and Southwest Airlines among others that made the cut.

Glassdoor said the rankings are based on its proprietary awards algorithm, which calculated the quantity, quality, and consistency of company reviews submitted by employees between November 1, 2016 and October 22, 2017.

Apple earned a 4.3-star rating out of five during that period, compared to Facebook's leading 4.6-star rating. Glassdoor says the average company rating is 3.3 stars among the more than 700,000 employers reviewed on the jobs site.

Apple has an overall 4.0-star rating on its Glassdoor company profile. Apple CEO Tim Cook was ranked the 53rd best CEO of an American company on Glassdoor last year, with a 93 percent approval rating.

The rankings mirror a recent survey of the most ideal employers for tech professionals in the United States, in which Apple ranked fourth, behind Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. In that survey, however, Apple was ahead of Facebook.

We've reached out to Apple to see if the company has any comment about the results, and we'll update this article if we hear back.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

iOS 18 Available Now With These 8 New Features For Your iPhone

Sunday September 15, 2024 10:09 am PDT by
Following over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 was finally widely released to the public on Monday, September 16. The update is available in the Settings app under General → Software Update on the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18, and Apple shared a complete list of new features and changes last week. Note that Apple...
iOS 18 Public Beta Thumb 1

Here's When iOS 18 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone

Monday September 16, 2024 3:56 am PDT by
It's that time of year again. Apple is about to release iOS 18, which promises to bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and the company is expected to release it sometime today – Monday, September 16. Based on past releases, the update is likely to drop at around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/1:00 p.m. Eastern...
M4 Mac mini Black Ortho Cooler

Apple Leaks New Mac Mini With 5 USB-C Ports

Monday September 16, 2024 11:40 am PDT by
Apple has seemingly leaked the rumored next-generation Mac mini with five USB-C ports, according to a code change within Apple software that was discovered today by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The code refers to an unreleased Mac mini model with an Apple silicon chip and five ports, which lines up with a previous report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman that said the next Mac mini will be ...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

M4 Macs, New iPad Mini, and iPad 11 Expected at Upcoming Apple Event

Sunday September 15, 2024 5:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated...
16 pro

iPhone 16 Pro Demand Has Been Lower Than Expected, Analyst Says

Sunday September 15, 2024 3:58 pm PDT by
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store. Kuo estimated that sales of all four iPhone 16 models reached...
m4 iPad Pro Horizontal Feature Purple and Blue

Apple Pulls iPadOS 18 for M4 iPad Pro After Bricking Complaints [Updated]

Tuesday September 17, 2024 11:24 am PDT by
Apple stopped signing the iPadOS 18 update for the M4 iPad Pro models, which means the new software is no longer available to be downloaded and installed at the current time. The update appears to have been pulled following complaints from some iPad Pro owners, who found that the update bricked their devices. There are reports on Reddit from iPad Pro users who had an interruption in the...

Top Rated Comments

Cindori Avatar
89 months ago
I visited Apple's campus in SF a few months ago (during WWDC) and met up with a designer who had worked there for over a year.

I was surprised to learn that his work phone was an old scrappy iPhone 5C, and that workers at Apple are never prioritized for getting the latest gear to do their work on.

We headed over to Café Macs where I was again surprised to see that every worker had to pay for a simple coffee, as if it would have been a commercial café. I would have expected free snacks, drinks, coffee and meals for working at such a successful company and I don't understand the nickel-and-diming here. I know that the work culture in the US is a bit different than where I'm from (Sweden), but it really tarnished my idea of Apple as a "magical/amazing" place to work at. It felt very cold and big-corporate. In contrast, I've visited the Spotify HQ here in Stockholm and you have access to free coffee, snacks, nuts, protein bars, catered meals, salads, sandwiches, drinks, sodas, energy drinks, etc 24/7 at no charge, you get the latest mid-high specced Macbook Pro and iPhone Plus/X, etc.

I don't understand why the wealthiest company in the world can't supply proper tools and coffee & snacks to the people on which their success is built on. Maybe these are silly remarks. But it really gave me the feeling that working at Apple is not a very great experience and that you're not really cared for as an employee.
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rpat701 Avatar
89 months ago
Many people from the outside want in. But, keep in mind why companies build HQ's like Apple - the expectation to work 24/7 and force work becoming your life. You couldn't pay me enough to work there.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
89 months ago
Trying to enforce a PC culture does not bring out the best in your workforce.

I still believe you get the best out of people if they fight what they believe in, even if that results in debates that are perceived at conflict, as long as its constructive, you get better products.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
89 months ago
Many people from the outside want in. But, keep in mind why companies build HQ's like Apple - the expectation to work 24/7 and force work becoming your life. You couldn't pay me enough to work there.
The open planning setup is what really puts me off the HQ. Its terrible in practice, my opinion.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
duffman9000 Avatar
89 months ago
Agreed. The tech company I work for has it and it's horrible. In addition to the productivity issues, it has caused some HR problems as well having everyone out in the open.
Oh this. So much this. The people who designed "open workplaces" should be forced to work in it 24/7 to see how it feels.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
star_nerdy Avatar
89 months ago
Trying to enforce a PC culture does not bring out the best in your workforce.

I still believe you get the best out of people if they fight what they believe in, even if that results in debates that are perceived at conflict, as long as its constructive, you get better products.
Have you ever worked at Apple?

I bet you haven’t. You’re not talking from experience. PC culture has zero to do with why they are where they are. Relentless seeking of profits, demanding employees work holidays instead of hiring more people, people never getting the raise they deserve because of quotas, lack of upward mobility, hiring from outside their stores for management positions, lack luster products that cost a fortune for employees to purchase and so many more reasons are why they are where they are.

PC culture is not why they are down.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)