Two NASA interns take a selfie, which is reflected by an a spacesuit helmet.
NASA
Ask most any group of five year olds what they want to be when they grow up, and one of the top answers will likely be “astronaut.” But before discounting this aspiration as childish dreaming, consider that Forbes’ newest employer ranking found that this dream often lives on into adulthood. In fact, based on our inaugural list of America’s Dream Employers, both college students and workers are still shooting for the moon.
“I’ve always dreamed of working at NASA,” says Michael Beleut, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at Florida Polytechnic University. “Space and aircraft flight have always interested me since I was little.” Fast forward to now—with NASA’s Artemis program working toward sending the first woman, the first person of color, and the first international partner astronaut to the moon for further study and discovery—and Beleut says he is more motivated than ever to do his best in school and make working at NASA a reality.
Beleut is not the only one with his sights set on space exploration. NASA ranked No. 7 on Forbes’ first-ever list of America’s Dream Employers 2025.
To compile this inaugural ranking, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 10,000 college students in the United States and more than 140,000 U.S.-based employees at companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. The students were asked which employers they considered to be dream employers, and were then asked to rate how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. The student participants were also asked how appealing the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, compensation and company reputation.
For a reality check of the students’ impressions, the employee respondents were asked not only about their dream employers but also whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on such criteria as: salary, health benefits, professional development, workplace flexibility and the ability of employees to express ideas. Survey responses were tallied and each employer was given a score. The 500 highest-scoring companies made our list of America’s Dream Employers 2025.
While the companies that comprised the top 10 came from a range of industries, all of the employers that ranked high on the list are known to have ambitious goals, offer challenging work and are lauded for their visionary thinking. Leading the list at No. 1 was Epic Games, the North Carolina creator of the hit video game Fortnite. Top spots also went to tech giants (Microsoft, No. 2, Google, No. 4, and Apple, No. 5), aerospace companies (in addition to NASA at No. 7, SpaceX nabbed No. 3) clothing companies (Nike, No. 8), healthcare systems (Mayo Clinic, No. 8, and University Hospitals, No. 9) and banks (Bank of America, No. 10).
Landing a job at one of these dream employers is, of course, highly competitive. In the case of NASA, its newer programs, including Artemis and the Europa Clipper (a newly-launched spacecraft currently studying Jupiter’s moon), along with the agency’s work in electric planes, space communications and space medicine, are piquing the interests of many graduates. As a result, NASA receives so many applications for open job postings that the agency is often forced to take postings down after a mere five days, says Kelly Elliott, NASA’s chief human capital officer. “We look for well-rounded students that demonstrate leadership, who are great team players, are fairly agile and really have demonstrated this lifelong interest in learning,” she says.
As with many companies, the best way into NASA is through internships, Elliott explains, noting that the agency recruits about 1,500 students a year for internship programs that often lead to full-time jobs. And while the interns tend to join NASA for the mission, she says that they end up staying for the people and the culture they create: “You’re surrounded by individuals who have a shared spirit of learning and innovation and growth and exploration.”
Students in the UH Future Nurse Academy take part in a mock endoscopy.
University Hospitals
University Hospitals—a 158-year-old network of 21 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and more than 200 physicians’ offices in northern Ohio—also aims to reach many of its future employees while they are still in school, in some fields, as early as 8th grade, says CEO Cliff Megerian. That early outreach combined with the organization’s mission to take care of vulnerable indigent patients makes UH an attractive place to apply, he says.
One UH program called the Healthcare Scholars program works with students as young as eighth graders to prepare them for college, while another program, the Future Nurses Academy, is available to high school students during the summer. UH also hires college students for training roles that include tuition support and assistance getting licensed and promoted into post-secondary-degree roles in radiology, technology, respiratory therapy, med tech and sleep tech, Megerian says. and the It’s all part of keeping a steady stream of applications for the institution.
That stability is attractive to students, according to research done by Handshake, a recruiting platform that connects students to jobs. Case in point: Handshake’s 2024 survey of approximately 2,700 students found that job stability is the most important factor students consider when looking for jobs, with 76% of respondents reporting that they’d be more likely to apply to a job that feels secure.
Still, as much as students may want job security, they aren’t necessarily looking to stay at their first job or two for the long term, says Sue Harbour, associate dean and executive director at the University of California Berkeley Career Engagement center, which partners with Handshake. “Job hopping is a completely normal thing that students are comfortable with,” she says.
That’s why Bank of America works hard to entice employees to stay. “Maintaining top talent is a core tenet of responsible growth,” says Josh Bronstein, the company’s head of global talent. To that end, BofA encourages employees to move around within the company both geographically and between types of work so that they experience different roles and environments while developing and advancing within the company.”
BofA is also committed to employee wellbeing beyond work. “There is an insatiable demand right now for emotional wellness support for our young adult teammates,” Bronstein says. And the company is meeting that demand with such benefits as 24/7 mental health counselors. BofA also aims to bolster employee financial wellness by offering profit sharing plans to its workers.
These benefits, along with meaningful work and opportunities to grow are exactly what students like Beleut are seeking, particularly with an employer that recognizes the value of work-life balance. “I’ve heard about the crazy hours some companies require,” says Beleut, noting that his ideal job would enable him to “push the limits” intellectually while still having time to spend with “the people I love.”
Fortunately for Beleut, dream jobs can come true.
For the full list of America’s Dream Employers, click here.
Methodology
To compile Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Dream Employers, we partnered with market research firm Statista to survey more than 10,000 college students in the United States and more than 140,000 U.S.-based employees at companies across all sectors that employ at least 1,000 people in the country. The students were asked which employers they considered to be dream employers, and were then asked to rate how excited they would be to receive an offer from the company. The student participants were also asked how appealing the employer was based on criteria including growth opportunities, quality of work, compensation and company reputation.
For a reality check of the students’ impressions, the employee respondents were asked not only about their dream employers but also whether they would recommend their current employer or previous employer (within the past two years). Current workers were also asked to evaluate their employers based on such criteria as: salary, professional development opportunities, workplace flexibility and the ability of employees to express ideas openly. Data from the past three years of Forbes-Statista employee surveys was included.
Responses were tallied and analyzed, with data from current employees weighted more heavily than older data or responses from past employees. Each employer was then given a score, and the 500 companies with the highest scores made our list of America’s Dream Employers 2025.
As with all Forbes lists, companies pay no fee to participate or be selected. To read more about how we make these lists, click here. For questions about this list, please email listdesk [at] forbes.com.
Forbes/Statista
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Publish date : 2024-11-26 02:01:00
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