Fortune

April 4, 2005

 

Ask Annie

by Anne Fisher

Dear Annie: I'll be graduating from college in June and feel very fortunate to have three job offers already. Two of them are from big companies (one is a FORTUNE 500 corporation) and the third is from a smaller, local company that is only a few years old, but has been growing fast. I like the idea of the job security I would get with one of the bigger employers, but the small company has cooler people working there—they all seem really fired up and energetic—and would probably give me more chances to work on interesting projects right away. What do you (and your readers) think about big companies versus small ones? Isn't going with a small company kind of risky? —Looking Before Leaping

Dear Looking: Heaven knows where you got the idea that big companies offer their employees job security. That notion went out the window at least 20 years ago. Maybe what you mean is that larger companies tend to offer better benefits, which is certainly true. Consider the results of a recent Harris poll, conducted in partnership with a couple of management consulting firms: The Concours Group (http://www.concoursgroup.com) and Age Wave (http://www.agewave.com). Among large companies (that is, those with 5,000 or more employees), 44% offered bonuses to at least some employees, versus 24% among smaller companies. Likewise, 83% of large companies in the survey boast retirement savings plans, versus just 29% of companies with fewer than 50 workers. As for annual raises, you're more likely to get them at a big outfit (74%) than a small one (34%).

So people who work for big companies are happier, right? Well, not exactly. Small-company employees are more than twice as likely as big-corporate folks to describe themselves as "extremely satisfied" with their work. And their jobs are more likely to make them feel energized (44% vs. 28% at large companies), "inspired" (44% vs. 24%), and "passionate" (53% vs. 36%). "People want to be part of the solution, feel recognized and have a stake in the outcome, and that is overwhelmingly present in small firms," says Tamara Erickson, head of The Concours Group. "These feelings simply do not manifest themselves at large organizations. It's not about the money." Readers, what say you?