City of Austin Among America’s Best Employers

Austin City Manager Marc Ott Memorandum:

I’ve often said that being a “best-managed” organization is a journey, and that we would know our success when others declared it for us. Today, I want to share one of those declarations.

Forbes magazine has ranked the City of Austin as #22 in a list of “America’s Best Employers.” We were the top-ranked employer in the entire government sector for organizations with 5,000 or more employees. That’s no small feat, and one we should celebrate.

Forbes worked with an independent survey organization to survey 30,000 American employees, contacting them without the involvement of their employers. Employees were asked to rate whether they would recommend their employer to someone else.

Our employees who participated overwhelmingly said “yes.”

To me, the results reflect our commitment to encouraging a safe workplace where we care about one another just as much as we care about the public we serve. It’s exciting. The feedback tells me that you are committed to public service and want others to join us.

Survey results ranked us in the Top 25 with organizations including Google, Costco, Facebook, Southwest Airlines and Duke University.

You can access the Forbes’ list at http://www.forbes.com/best-employers/list/#tab:rank.

Thanks for your dedication and hard work in making the City of Austin a special place to work!

Marc Ott

Marc Anthony Ott was selected as City Manager for the City of Austin by the Austin City Council in January 2008. Ott is the 17th person in city history to be appointed City Manager in a full-time capacity. In his time as City Manager, Ott has championed employee empowerment, civic dialogue, innovation and fiscal sustainability in pursuit of a goal to become the “Best Managed City in America.”