Oakland, Calif., June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leaders who listen elevate their companies to the Fortune Best Workplaces™ in New York, Texas, Chicago, and the Bay Area.
Among winning companies in all four regions, 87% of employees say management genuinely seeks and responds to feedback — 32 points higher than the typical U.S. workplace.
Great Place To Work® identified winners based on over 1.3 million U.S. employee surveys collected via its proprietary platform. Top-ranked companies deliver consistent employee experiences where workers felt respected, valued, and cared for.
“Listening isn’t something you do once in a while. At these companies, it’s constant — and it leads to action and a stronger business,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. “Listening is how good decisions get made. Most leaders love to talk. The best ones listen at least as much.”
How listening drives performance
Listening shapes how people respond to change, including AI adoption.
At Synchrony, No. 1 on the Best Workplaces in New York list, nearly 80% of employees believe AI will positively impact their careers and 82% say it will help the company grow.
At AbbVie, No. 1 on the Best Workplaces in Chicago list, listening builds trust, and that trust shows up in how people work: employees are more likely to try new things and adapt quickly. Eighty percent call it a healthy place to work, 43% higher than typical workplaces.
Read the full story to see how companies like Synchrony and AbbVie drive stronger business performance by building trust through how leaders listen.
2026 winners
Here are the top five large companies on this year’s regional Best Workplaces lists:
Fortune Best Workplaces in the Bay Area™
1. Cisco
2. NVIDIA
3. Cadence
4. Salesforce
5. Box, Inc.
Fortune Best Workplaces in New York™
1. Synchrony
2. American Express
3. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Deloitte
5. EY
Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas™
1. Camden Property Trust
2. David Weekley Homes
3. Texas Health Resources, Inc.
4. Ryan, LLC
5. Hilcorp Energy Company
Fortune Best Workplaces in Chicago™
1. AbbVie
2. Hyatt Hotels Corporation
3. BDO USA
4. W.W. Grainger, Inc.
5. Encore
View the full list of winners.
Think your company should be on the list? Start your application here.
About the Fortune Best Workplaces in the Bay Area
Great Place To Work selected the Fortune Best Workplaces in the Bay Area List by surveying 1.3 million employees in the U.S., representing companies that collectively employ more than 7.3 million U.S. workers. Of those responses, more than 70,000 were received from employees at companies that were eligible for the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in the Bay Area List, and these rankings are based on their feedback. Companies earn eligibility by being Great Place To Work Certified, having at least 10 U.S. employees, and having headquarters in the Bay Area. Read the full methodology.
To get on this list next year, start here.
About the Fortune Best Workplaces in New York
Great Place To Work selected the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in New York by surveying 1.3 million employees in the U.S., representing companies that collectively employ more than 7.3 million U.S. workers. Of those responses, more than 155,000 were received from employees at companies that were eligible for the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in New York List, and these rankings are based on their feedback. Companies earn eligibility by being Great Place To Work Certified, having at least 10 U.S. employees, and having headquarters in the New York region. Read the full methodology.
To get on this list next year, start here.
About the Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas
Great Place To Work selected the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas by surveying 1.3 million employees in the U.S., representing companies that collectively employ more than 7.3 million U.S. workers. Of those responses, nearly 100,000 were received from employees at companies that were eligible for the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in Texas list, and these rankings are based on their feedback. To be eligible, companies must be Great Place To Work Certified, have at least 10 U.S. employees, and be headquartered in Texas. Read the full methodology.
To get on this list next year, start here.
About the Fortune Best Workplaces in Chicago
Great Place To Work selected the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in Chicago by surveying 1.3 million employees in the U.S., representing companies that collectively employ more than 7.3 million U.S. workers. Of those responses, more than 60,000 were received from employees at companies that were eligible for the 2026 Fortune Best Workplaces in Chicago list, and these rankings are based on their feedback. To be eligible for the list, companies must be Great Place To Work Certified, have at least 10 U.S. employees, and be headquartered in the Chicago region. Read the full methodology.
To get on this list next year, start here.
About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work, a UKG company, brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and Great Place To Work Model help companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified and receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces list.
Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram, and sign up for the Great Place To Work LinkedIn newsletter, Culture Edge, to get the latest research on what drives business success.
About Fortune
Fortune is a global multi-platform media company built on a legacy of trusted, award-winning reporting and information for those who want to make business better. Independently owned, Fortune tells the stories of the world’s biggest companies and their leaders, as well as a new generation of innovators who are moving business forward. Digitally and in print, Fortune measures corporate performance through rigorous benchmarks and holds companies accountable in regions around the world. Its iconic rankings include Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, Most Powerful Women, and World’s Most Admired Companies. Fortune builds world-class communities by convening industry thought leaders for exclusive summits and conferences, including the Fortune Global Forum, Fortune Brainstorm Tech, and Fortune Most Powerful Women. For more information, visit fortune.com.
- Fortune Best Companies to Work For By Region