When you do a job hunt on Glassdoor, you can read reviews, see salary information and photos, etc. all provided by current and former employees of the company you are researching.

Now, with the Facebook integration, you can see what sort of connections you have with the company from within your Facebook friends that might give you an “in” for the job.

“Jerry Yang continues to be Chief Yahoo and his role has always been dubious. It appears that Jerry wants to have the cake and eat it too. It is time that senior leadership develops some spine to tell Jerry that it is time for him to let go.” – Yahoo Employee (Sunnyvale, CA)

“Jerry Yang should never have been made CEO.” – Yahoo Product Manager (Sunnyvale, CA)

Glassdoor provides the following chart on approval rating among employees (for Yang and recently ousted Carol Bartz):

Here’s what a few employees have said about what could be improved about the company today:

“Multiple re-orgs can be tiring, but hopefully that’s behind Y! with the new CEO as of early 2012.” – Yahoo Employee (Sunnyvale, CA)

“Constant reorganization. Lack of clarity in company’s objectives. Selfish senior management (VP and up). Highly political.” – Yahoo Human Resources (Sunnyvale, CA)

At least some employees have apparently been impressed with new CEO Scott Thompson so far, but others are fearing layoffs.

According to glassdoor.com’s list of the 50 Best Places to Work for 2012, the feedback from employees at Facebook gave the company a rating of 4.3 out of 5, with 4.01-5.0 meaning “Very Satisfied.” This ranking was high enough to place Facebook as the third ranked company overall but it is slightly lower than the 4.6 ranking the social media colossus received in 2011 when it was the #1 overall ranked company.

Edging out Facebook for the top two spots were Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company – two consulting firms that couldn’t sound more Wall Street even if you renamed them Gordon Gekko 1 and Gordon Gekko 2.

Glassdoor compiled a highlight video the top companies in order to fill your heart with greed and work-lust. Enjoy and covet much:

Seriously, did you see that dude skateboarding down the hallway at work during that Facebook segment? Skateboarding! At work! It’s like a Silicon Valley Level 5 Shangri-La. Unreal. Way to rub it in, Facebook. I can only imagine that the coolness factor will soon be a bi-coastal phenomenon now that Facebook is opening up an office in New York City. Get those applications in quick, kiddos.

Not to be completely forgotten, Google and Apple also placed in the top ten overall companies to work for in 2012 at #5 and #10, respectively. After what I’ve read and seen of the Googleplex, I’m a little surprised that they’re not a little higher. That place makes Disney World look like a snooze-fest.

Glassdoor included more than 65,000 companies for the 2012 awards. The full report card from Glassdoor can be viewed on their website, but if you’re like me and curious about what the worst companies are to work for in 2012, you’ll be disappointed that no such information is available in this report.

“According to nearly 1,000 Apple employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor…they’ll be sad to see him go ,” a spokesperson for Glassdoor tells WebProNews. “Apple employees give Jobs a 97% approval rating (one of the highest rated CEOs) and thanks to his leadership give the company a 3.7 (satisfied) rating (ratings based on a 5-point scale).”

She shared the following quotes from Apple employees. 

“Apple takes care of its employees. Full time workers receive health benefits, all employees are offered stock options and very good prices on previous generation apple products.” – Apple Mac Specialist (location n/a)
 
“Long term — it’s not clear what will happen when Steve Jobs leaves.  It seems unlikely he will continue to lead Apple for another two decades.  It’s possible the “magic” will go when he does.” – Apple Employee
 
“Everything depends on the next hit product and of Steve Jobs staying ahead of the competition.” – Apple Marketing Manager
 
“Steve Jobs is revered at the company.” – Apple Employee
 
“Watching Apple grow in the Steve 2.0 era has been nothing short of astonishing.” – Apple Network Engineer
 
“ I am proud to say that I work for Apple. The products speak for themselves and it is great to be able to use them.”  - Apple Project Manager (Austin, TX)
 
“Management is transparent and very friend, great colleagues, pleasant work environment in which you encouraged to be who you are.- Apple Employee (location n/a)
 
“Great products and phenomenal co-workers! An awesome work environment that cultivated creativity and competition. I woke up every day and could not wait to get to work!” – Apple Account Executive (Atlanta, GA)
 
“Apple is an amazing company with a very successful management. Innovation is at the heart of all decisions. Successful organization. And great products.” – Apple Employee (location n/a)
 
“Apple is an amazing company, with cutting edge products, unparalleled customer service focus and a place that cultivates a family atmosphere. Very enjoyable working environment.” – Apple Employee (location n/a)
 
Apple is an amazing place to work. There are so many opportunities to grow and learn. “- Apple Employee (Cupertino, CA)

From Jobs’ letter of resignation, it’s clear that he thinks they’ll be happy with new CEO Tim Cook, who sent employees an email talking about his love for the company more on that here.

Indeed, employees’ ratings in eight categories (Career Opportunities, Communication, Compensation & Benefits, Employee Morale, Recognition & Feedback, Senior Leadership, Work/Life Balance, and Fairness & Respect) gave Facebook a score of 4.6 out of 5.0 in the Glassdoor.com Employees’ Choice Awards.

Meanwhile, the second-, third-, and fourth-place companies (Southwest Airlines, Bain & Company, and General Mills) only got scores of 4.4, 4.3, and 4.0.  And Google, which is famous for being a fun place to work, only managed a score of 3.7 and came in 30th on the overall Best Places to Work list.

Then here’s one more interesting fact about Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg, who was named Time’s Person of the Year today, is quite popular with employees, netting an approval rating of 96 percent.

So Facebook is almost undoubtedly a great place to work.  Only the HR heads who are now bound to be swamped with applications might deserve anyone’s pity.

GlassDoor breaks it down into two categories – companies that have reported upcoming layoffs, and companies that have not:

Employees who work for companies that have reported layoffs versus those that haven’t are more likely to:		Total   n=1,331		Employees from companies that have communicated layoffs within the past 6 months n=327		Employees from companies who have not communicated layoffs within the past six months n=1004
Have concerns about being laid off in next six months		21%		45%		12%
Have concerns coworkers will be laid off in next six months		42%		87%		26%
Be working harder to avoid a lay off given the current state of the economy		52%		69%		46%
Not expect a pay raise in next 12 months		40%		49%		36%
Not expect a bonus		25%		32%		22%
To take on more projects and responsibilities to avoid a lay off		74%		84%		70%

 “This data reinforces the need for employers to be more open and transparent with their plans for the company and people. It is human nature to always think that something bad will happen to someone else but never to me. Employees often think them personally — or their company — will be insulated from layoffs and that someone else will lose their job, not them, often causing shock and denial when notified their job has been eliminated,” says Rusty Rueff, co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business and former HR executive at Electronic Arts and Pepsico, who is also a member of Glassdoor’s board of directors.

“Fourth quarter layoffs may just be a prelude of what’s to come and both employers and talent should take time now to communicate and plan short-term options and contingencies. In today’s environment there’s no reason to continue to have people surprised and not prepared for the worst,” adds Rueff.

Employees Expect Raises and Bonuses

Some other interesting stats revealed by the survey include:

– Even amid widespread company cost-cutting, 40% of employees say they expect a pay raise or cost of living increase in the next 12 months while 40% do not expect a raise and 20% say they are unsure.

– Of those eligible for an annual bonus, 57% expect a bonus and 40% do not.

Of those who expect a bonus:

– 41% expect it to be about the same as last bonus

– 28% expect it to be less than last bonus

– 15% expect it to be more than last bonus

– 16% are unsure of the amount

“Salary and total compensation are very important to employees so we aren’t surprised more than half of employees are unwilling to take pay cuts to avoid a lay off. We are surprised, however, that so many employees say they are not personally concerned about layoffs, particularly given the frequency we’re seeing people discuss layoffs in their Glassdoor reviews over the past few months,” said Robert Hohman, co-founder and CEO of Glassdoor.com, a career and workplace community bringing greater transparency to salaries and workplaces.

So if employees are so confident, what are they willing to sacrifice in order to keep their jobs?

– 74% would take on more projects or responsibility

– 60% would increase the amount of hours worked

– 46% would give up perks like commuter subsidies, on-site cafeteria, child care, dry cleaner, gym access

– 32% would accept a reduction in health and dental benefits coverage

– 30% would accept a cut in salary or wages

– 24% would forfeit paid time off or vacation

– 24% would take an unpaid leave or sabbatical

The good news here is that employees are willing to work harder and stay motivated so that they can keep their jobs. This should theoretically lead to more productivity, which should make business owners happy – a silver lining in the dark cloud of the economy.

Glassdoor has collected info on more than 11,000 companies, and Google came in seventh with a rating of 4.1 (5.0 represents a perfect score).  CEO Eric Schmidt, meanwhile, received an approval rating of 88 percent.  Both of these numbers sound great, and are all the more remarkable since none of Google’s main competitors appear on Glassdoor’s list of the top 50 employers.

 

Really, the only businesses that WebProNews even sort of covers to make that cut were Bain & Company (at number two), Netflix (number three), and Apple (in eighteenth place).

It’s at the other end of the list that a more familiar name appears.  Glassdoor’s users judged eBay to be about the 47th worst company on the site, giving it a rating of 2.7.  eBay’s CEO, John Donahue, got an approval rating of just 20 percent.

Wags of the finger and pats on the back should be doled out accordingly.  A hat tip goes to Erick Schonfeld, too.