Apple Isn't Anywhere Near The Best Tech Company To Work For, According To Employees

Job hunting site Glassdoor released its sixth annual list of the 50 best places to work, according to employees, and one thing that surprised us was how low Apple ranked.

It surprised us because working for Apple can be a career-maker for many a tech professional. And Apple was one of only five tech companies to land on the Best Places To Work list all six years that Glassdoor has been compiling it. (The others were Google, Qualcomm, National Instruments, and CareerBuilder.)

And yet, Apple didn't make it into the Top 10 or even the Top 20.

For the current list, released on Wednesday, Apple ranked 35 out of 50, and number 16 out of the 22 tech companies on the list. The year before, it was No. 34.

Part of the reason is that Apple employees, while clearly fond of CEO Tim Cook, don't think he's doing as good a job as Steve Jobs did. When Jobs stepped down in August 2011, his overall approval rating was 97%, according to Glassdoor.

Today, Cook's approval rating is 92%.

The main complaint among Apple engineers who wrote reviews on Glassdoor was that it was hard to get a promotion.

One employee said, "Start-up type environment, territorial at the upper levels, little room for upward career growth."

Another said, "With all the talent around I found it very hard to be original."

Still another said, "The explosive growth over the last five years means that some of the middle management imports aren't really invested in the culture. Beware the big company 'experienced' managers who get brought in at the director level, it's a mixed bag ... [Management should] work harder on internal career path and promotion."