Federal Agencies Aren't Among the Top 100 IT Employers

This year marks the second year in a row that no federal agencies made Computerworld’s top 100 list. In 2010, the U.S. Postal Service was the lone federal agency on the list, coming in at 93. As in past years, several government contractors, such as CDW, Grant Thornton and Raytheon, made the list.

IT professionals ranked USAA, which offers $10,000 in tuition reimbursement annually, as their top place to work in 2012. Other top companies for IT professionals were CareerBuilder, which awarded employees $236,000 for innovative ideas in 2011; Commonwealth Financial Network, where staffers get a free stay at the chairman’s vacation home; and General Mills, which offers each employee a $4,688 annual training budget. Rounding out the top 10 were Quicken Loans, Verizon Wireless, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Salesforce.com, Chesapeake Energy and Securian Financial Group.

The list also includes the benefits and other incentives IT workers at leading organizations believe are critical for job satisfaction, and this could be useful for federal agencies looking to attract, hire and retain top IT professionals. For example, when asked about the most important aspects of their jobs, IT professionals at the top 100 companies said working in an enjoyable environment (94 percent), being fairly compensated (94 percent), having access to training opportunities (89 percent), and having the means and opportunity to further their career (86 percent).

One area where the federal government may have a competitive advantage for these IT professionals is on benefits, particularly telecommuting. More than half of IT professionals at the top 100 organizations ranked telecommuting as a top benefit, just below other benefits like paid vacation (76 percent), health insurance (74 percent), and profit sharing/stock-ownership and 401(k)/403b plans (54 percent).

IT professionals also rated overall morale in their departments highly, with 58 percent rating it at very good or excellent. They noted stress levels to be fairly low, with 67 percent saying their jobs were not at all to somewhat stressful.

Federal employees have been under a two-year pay freeze since 2011, and other potential cuts to the workforce, pay and benefits could be major factors in why no federal agencies made this year’s top 100 list.

Should your agency have made the list, or have perhaps made a top 100 list of the worst organizations to work in IT? What factors do you think played into federal agencies not making the cut?