Aldi Just Scored A Spot On Fortune's Best Workplaces List

Exactly what composes a good working environment can be somewhat subjective, as different people prioritize various aspects of their work experiences more highly than others. Each year, Fortune endeavors to put some objectivity behind the ranking of which workplaces are the best in the United States for employees, and for 2022, that list includes the grocery store chain, Aldi.

According to Fortune, it uses a worker survey that for 2022 had over a million responses to compile its rankings of companies in various industries. For the 2022 list, it examined more than 72,000 of those responses from retail workers to compile a ranking of the top 20 retail workplaces for the year. The survey is comprised of 60 different questions on which employees were able to rank their companies on a scale of one to five.

One might wonder how many unhappy employees would remain at their job and answer the survey. People who frequent the Aldi employees subreddit may be familiar with stories of workers who describe quitting mid-shift or simply refusing to show up for work anymore. Would those kinds of individuals be just as likely as happy workers to respond to the 60 questions? In any event, the Aldi employees who took part in the survey for 2022 gave their company high marks, and other sources on the internet seem to agree.

On the Fortune top 20 retail places to work list for 2022, Aldi came in at No. 16. The deeper survey results showed that 79% of the Aldi employees who took part in the survey rated it as a great place to work overall. A full 88% of the survey respondents agreed with the statement, "When you join the company, you are made to feel welcome," and 87% concurred with "I am treated as a full member here regardless of my position" in reference to their experience working for Aldi.

Fortune says "57% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company" rank their workplaces as a great place to work, so Aldi definitely stands out. Some reviews on the employment website Indeed may shed some light on why that is the case. One reviewer wrote that the benefits are good, and the company promoted the worker within a year. Others cited the team atmosphere or gave Aldi good marks for its employee compensation. Not every review was glowingly positive, however, as some shared that the labor can be physically demanding and the pace of the work can be difficult to keep up with.

It remains to be seen whether Aldi will hold onto its spot in this ranking in subsequent years. But for now, the results suggest Aldi is making the right moves to keep many employees happy.