25 top-paying companies 2008

[dhilipkumar]

Bingham McCutchen
Average total pay: $211,017
For: Associate*

Best Companies rank: 41

This major corporate law firm brought three firms into its fold in 2007, boosting its staff to more than 1,000 lawyers working in 13 different offices, the largest of which is in Boston.

Most hires fresh out of law school start here with a base salary of $160,000, and even the firm's legal secretaries average a not-too-shabby $69,000 a year. And talent looms large - the legal staff includes 72 graduates from Harvard Law, 24 from Yale and 20 from Stanford.


Arnold & Porter
Average total pay: $194,575
For: Associate*

Best Companies rank: 19

Founded in Washington, D.C. in 1946, where roughly two-thirds of its people still work, Arnold & Porter focuses on litigation, regulatory and corporate issues and is known for pro bono work. The firm has 600 lawyers in eight offices.

Among its many perks, Arnold & Porter offers a self-run onsite childcare center at its main office in D.C. And there's a strong emphasis on diversity: Twenty percent of the staff is African-American, and women hold around 20 percent of the partner positions - high for the industry. Compensation isn't bad either - lawyer bonuses averaged $34,575 in 2006.


Alston & Bird
Average total pay: $190,135
For: Associate Attorney*

Best Companies rank: 31

This Atlanta-based law firm, which serves corporate clients like Wachovia, Dow Chemical, and Delta Airlines, will be celebrating its 115th birthday in 2008. It ranks 55th nationally, measured by revenue.

Like Arnold & Porter, Alston & Bird provides onsite childcare at its headquarters - a rarity in the law field - and currently accommodates 132 children of employees. Pay at Alston & Bird typically falls in the 75th percentile of the market. All employees are eligible for a merit bonus which can be as high as 10 percent of salary for lawyers, and 9 percent for all other staff.


Shared Technologies
Average total pay: $187,137
For: Sales Rep*

Best Companies rank: 25

An installer of telephone and data systems for businesses, Shared Technologies has grown dramatically since 2004, when it converted to a private company under the charismatic leadership of Tony Parella. He did a road show in 2007, visiting all 41 offices of the company and shaking hands with every employee.

Shared Tech reviewed compensation policies in 2006 and paid out a total of $330,000 to bring employee salaries up to or above market rates. Bonuses, targeted between 10 and 40 percent of pay, are awarded to everyone based on both individual and company performances.


Nixon Peabody
Average total pay: $178,016
For: Associate Attorney*

Best Companies rank: 66

Propelled by a series of mergers, Nixon Peabody has achieved its goal of becoming a leading national law firm, with 700 attorneys working in 16 offices. The firm's key principles include pledges to offer professional development for its entire staff and to share financial success with everyone, not just the attorneys.

Pay and benefits have been beefed up substantially in the past three years, and are still improving. One new extra: In 2008 the firm will introduce a scholarship program for children of employees.

Nixon Peabody also reviews its compensation policies annually, considering market adjustments according to each office's geographic location. The firm aims to be in the 70th percentile of the market.

[dhilipkumar]

Devon Energy
Average total pay: $173,057
For: Engineer*

Best Companies rank: 48

Devon Energy catapulted itself into the nation's fourth largest natural gas producer and the eighth largest oil producer through a series of acquisitions: PennzEnergy in 1999, Santa Fe Snyder in 2000, Anderson Exploration in 2001, Mitchell Energy in 2002 and Ocean Energy in 2003. Over that same period, employee population ballooned from 764 to more than 5,000 worldwide.

Employee growth hasn't diluted the pay. Devon loves to give big bonuses. The average bonus in 2006 was $21,332. The company also awards a holiday bonus of $600 for every employee, regardless of position.

Perkins Coie
Average total pay: $162,860
For: Associate*

Best Companies rank: 55

Seattle law firm Perkins Coie represents such hometown heavyweights as Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks. But it's also known for its unusual perks, like Happiness Committees - teams of employees who roam the offices and drop surprise gifts on the desks of their colleagues. Every quarter the company holds random drawings and gives away six pairs of round-trip airline tickets to lucky winners. It's even got an in-house rock band.

Salaries are reviewed annually to stay competitive with other law firms, plus they give a five percent bonus to all staff. Special bonuses are also given out if the firm has an exceptional year.


EOG Resources
Average total pay: $146,739
For: Engineer*

Best Companies rank: 64

This independent oil and gas driller pays well and piles on the benefits: stock options, scholarships to children of employees, dollar-for-dollar match of employee contributions to a 401(k) plan up to 6 percent of pay and a pension plan.

The company has a stated policy to provide base salaries above market averages. Employees at all levels are eligible for annual bonuses and additional stock options, and benefit plans are the same for everyone.

Adobe Systems
Average total pay: $137,691
For: Computer Scientist*

Best Companies rank: 40

The Silicon Valley software developer famous for products like Acrobat and Photoshop provides all employees with ergonomic furniture and plenty of free time. During the first five years of service an employee is entitled to 24 days of personal time off (vacation, sick days, floating holidays) plus eight holidays. Every five years employees can take a three-week, fully-paid sabbatical.

Adobe has a unique compensation policy: It has established salary ranges for every position based on market levels, but then applies 12-month salary projections to those ranges, in order to remain an industry leader in pay. A quarterly profit-sharing bonus typically pays out 10 percent of pay, and some employees receive additional incentive bonuses.


Goldman Sachs

Average total pay: $137,000
For: Other Exempt (Analysts, Program Analysts, Associates, and Professional Non-Exempt)*

Best Companies rank: 9

2007 proved to be an extremely difficult year for Wall Street firms, but investment bank Goldman Sachs navigated its way to record revenues and profits. Goldman booked profits of $11.6 billion. This translated into bumper bonuses, better than any other Wall Street firm.

Goldman spent nearly $20.2 billion on compensation and benefits in its latest fiscal year. Divide that by the number of worldwide employees (30,522) for an average of.$661,400 per employee. Top people at Goldman receive bonuses in the millions but the awards go deep into the company ranks.

[dhilipkumar]

Boston Consulting Group
Average total pay: $136,706
For: Consultant*

Best Companies rank: 11

Business is booming for this management consulting firm, which advises companies on how they can create and sustain a competitive advantage. Roughly two-thirds of its clients are Fortune 500 companies. BCG has 64 offices in 38 countries.

U.S. payrolls increased by 36 percent between 2005 and 2007. New consultants at BCG made $160,000, which includes base salary, sign-on bonus and average performance bonus. And the benefits are stellar: zero premiums for health insurance, 12 weeks paid maternity leave and 15 percent of pay deposited in a profit-sharing retirement fund regardless of whether the employee contributes.


Cisco Systems
Average total pay: $132,004
For: Software Engineer IV*

Best Companies rank: 6

This Silicon Valley veteran recently launched a new program, HealthConnections, to get employees to take health assessments and then use coaches to help them become more fit. Those who participate will get up to a $300 reduction in their annual health insurance premiums. Early assessments showed that the three main health threats to Cisco employees were: poor diet, physical inactivity and stress.

Cisco puts a big emphasis on employee ownership, offering stock grants to all new hires and ongoing stock grants to 86 percent of its employees, well above the market average for tech companies.


Network Appliance
Average total pay: $129,689
For: MTS Software 4*

Best Companies rank: 14

This supplier of storage and data management systems has a strong set of values - trust, integrity, simplicity and teamwork - posted on bulletin boards, intranet pages, brochures, company presentations and elsewhere.

But while NetApp expects a lot from its employees, it also motivates them with generous compensation and incentive bonuses. The company offers spot bonuses to managers for outstanding performance. Last year the company spent more than $750,000 on such bonuses for 262 managers, or an average of about $3,000 per bonus. In addition, the company awards employees between $5,000 and $15,000 for every patent they get. In 2006, 421 employees received a patent award.


Kimley-Horn & Associates
Average total pay: $127,167
For: Project Manager*

Best Companies rank: 38

Engineering consulting firm Kimley-Horn's business has skyrocketed in the past decade, with revenue rising from $49 million a year to more than $450 million. And it shares the wealth: its profit-sharing plan has consistently paid out 16 percent of an employee's pay

Bonuses are generous here too. In addition to year-end bonuses, the company sometimes provides "surprise" bonuses that exceed one week's pay for most employees. Shares in Kimley-Horn are all employee-owned.


eBay
Average total pay: $125,889
For: Software Engineer 4*

Best Companies rank: 68

The online auction giant is an award-happy place. In 2006, 2,471 spot bonuses totaling $3.3 million were handed out to employees, and special stock awards were made to 97 percent of employees (top executives were excluded).There are also PayPalian Awards specifically for PayPal group employees, and Out-of-this-World Awards - cash bonuses that reward employees for extraordinary contributions -which can go up to $15,000.

eBay also offers a quarterly bonus plan that last year averaged about 9 percent of base pay for non-managers and 15 percent for managers. The company also boasts one of corporate America's best sabbatical programs: four weeks off with full pay every five years.

Robert W. Baird
Average total pay: $123,800
For: Financial Analyst*

Best Companies rank: 39

Financial advisory firm Robert W. Baird fancies itself an equal opportunity employer in more ways than one. Everyone in the firm is eligible for bonuses, including hourly associates. Last year's bonuses for hourly employees amounted to about 9 percent of their salary.

Baird is an employee-owned company, and nearly one-half of all employees are now shareholders. New shareholders are welcomed at the firm's annual meeting, where they're asked to come to the stage individually to shake the hands of the top execs.

[dhilipkumar]

Texas Instruments
Average total pay: $116,636
For: Electrical Design Engineer*

Best Companies rank: 100

You know those long waits at the DMV? At semiconductor maker Texas Instruments, a van from the Texas Department of Transportation pulls into the company parking lot each quarter to process driver's license renewals for employees. But getting to work is no hassle because TI provides free bus and light rail passes for all 11,000 employees in the Dallas and Plano areas. Family-friendly policies allow employees to balance work and family. The company was one of the first recipients of the Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.

When it outperforms its peers, TI aims to out-pay its competitors. Individual compensation is tied directly to company performance, so those who contribute the most to the business success of their group can receive considerably more.

MITRE
Average total pay: $116,291
For: Lead Information Systems Engineer*

Best Companies rank: 42

A lot of brainy people work at this federally-chartered, non-profit research organization whose principal clients are the military services and other government agencies. MITRE invests in its employees by reimbursing tuition costs up to $20,000, offering cash awards for advanced degrees and encouraging volunteer work - 40 hours of paid time a year for employee volunteering.

MITRE's approach to compensation relies heavily on base salaries, which are competitive with other companies in its field. There are no bonuses or employee ownership. But the company proudly points out that the ratio between top and bottom earners is very narrow. The CEO makes only 12 times what the lowest-paid worker earns.


Yahoo
Average total pay: $116,250
For: Technical Yahoo*

Best Companies rank: 87

Fun is a core value at this 12-year-old Internet portal visited by 500 million people across the world each month. The company seeks out people who are "passionate about the Internet" and don't take themselves too seriously. Its Silicon Valley headquarters, where more than half the employees work, boasts a host of amenities including free gourmet coffee, beach volleyball, a bocce court, a barber shop and a dental office.

In addition to high pay, Yahoo gives stock options to every single employee, outright stock awards to more than half the employees and health insurance with no premiums. Bonuses are weighted heavily toward high performers.


S.C. Johnson & Son
Average total pay: $110,587
For: Sr. Research Scientist*

Best Companies rank: 27

This producer of household products (Pledge, Drano, Windex and Raid, among others) will mark its 122nd birthday in 2008, and is still owned by the founding family. And S.C. Johnson has a long reputation as a great workplace. It introduced profit sharing in 1917 and a pension plan in 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression. In its entire history, it has never laid off a single U.S. employee.

Pay and benefits rank in the top tier of its industry. Employees get annual merit increases, profit sharing payouts twice a year and performance bonuses once a year. Perks include a free 24-hour medical advice hotline, a concierge service that runs personal errands and access to a company resort 300 miles north of its Racine, Wisconsin headquarters.