Costco Tops A List of ‘Best Places to Work’ for Compensation

ST. CLOUD -- As Costco prepares to start building a brand new store here in St. Cloud, they have just been named one of the 'Best Places to Work" for compensation and benefits.  The list has been compiled by indeed.com and was released Tuesday.

Here's what the website said about Costco:

So how did a warehouse chain beat out the top tech companies when it comes to benefits and salary packages? To start, the company pays well above the typical salary that other retail companies pay, even for entry-level workers.

When it comes to insurance and other benefits, another employee describes the company as “second to none.” In general, employee reviews praise Costco’s family-based philosophy, great treatment of its employees and concern for their well-being.

On Monday night the St. Cloud City Council approved the sale of 18 acres of land at Heritage Park, which clears the way for a developer to start building the retail store.  At that meeting St. Cloud Economic Development Director Cathy Mehelich quoted Costco officials saying they plan to hire about 263 employees at the St. Cloud store.  And, that their average hourly salary for U.S. workers is $23.85 an hour.

Other companies that have locations here in the St. Cloud metro area that also made this list:
#3 -- Verizon
#4 -- FedEx
#6 -- Capital One
#8 -- Aldi
#9 -- Starbucks

Fourth place FedEx provides wedding leave, sixth place Capital One offers adoption and surrogacy reimbursements while third place Verizon has an employee relief fund for natural disaster victims.

Meanwhile, Starbucks (#9) may lead the way in education benefits with its notable Starbucks College Achievement Plan, which gives any benefits-eligible U.S. employees full-tuition coverage for a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.