Top Jobs for Tough Times

With the economy weakening and the unemployment line growing, we searched for—and found—some good news: local employers who aren't just surviving the current economic malaise but thriving, hiring, and treating their employees right

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GOOGLE INC.
google.com
Provides Internet search information and targeted Web advertising
HEADQUARTERS: Mountain View, California
CHICAGO-AREA EMPLOYEES: 175

One of the country's fastest-growing companies, Google has a thriving local presence, though chances are you'd have to do a Google map search to find its River North office. "Despite the fact that we have dozens of offices worldwide, whenever I tell people that I work for Google in Chicago, most of them respond, 'Google has an office in Chicago?'" wrote Brian Fitzpatrick, an engineering manager, on the company's blog last year. That's beginning to change as the Mountain View, California, Internet search giant raises its profile in the local press, partners with the Chicago Transit Authority to enable riders to map bus and train routes, and beefs up its Chicago staff. The local Google outpost, which started with two employees in 2000, now has about 400, according to the company. "We go where the customers are," says Jim Lecinski, managing director of Google's central region. "There's a lot of [Fortune 500 companies] in the middle of the country, so Chicago makes a smart strategic fit for us." Last year, Google showed it was serious about bulking up in Chicago when it paid $100 million to acquire FeedBurner, a Chicago-based Web-application designer. In 2007, Google also bought the New York-based Web advertising consulting company DoubleClick.

HELP WANTED: Google is looking to add software engineers and computer operations experts to its Chicago office, as well as ad sales staff, administrators, and more. It is recruiting from engineering departments at Northwestern, Loyola, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and other nearby colleges.

PERKS AND BENEFITS: On top of competitive pay and above-average benefits and bonuses, Google is known for its loose, idiosyncratic work environment. On the flip side, 10- to 12-hour workdays are the norm, so winding down with some Ping-Pong or video games in the recreation room (where there's a white board just in case someone gets the urge to brainstorm) is encouraged.

STOCK WATCH: Google's valuation has deflated from a heady $740 a share in November to $581 in mid May, reflecting concern that the growth in the company's Internet advertising revenue will  slow this year. Still, Google exceeded analysts' estimates with quarterly net income of $1.31 billion on revenues of $5.19 billion. And recently, George Askew, an analyst with the St. Louis-based Stifel Nicolaus Corp., declared the stock a buy. "We believe Google will widen its lead in search advertising and Internet innovation," he said in a report.

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PINSTRIPES
pinstripes.com
Entertainment and dining complex offering bowling, bocce, and food
HEADQUARTERS: Northbrook
EMPLOYEES: 140

It's getting tougher for families to afford an evening of entertainment. Attending a Chicago Cubs game, for example, can easily exceed $200 for a family of four, counting tickets, transportation, and concessions. Dale Schwartz, a former investment banker with a Harvard MBA, thinks he's happened upon the perfect formula for families in search of bang for their entertainment buck. Schwartz is founder and CEO of Pinstripes, an upstart entertainment and dining complex in Northbrook that houses 18 bowling lanes, six bocce courts, and an upscale Italian bistro (entrees are in the low to mid-$20s).

Schwartz may be onto something. Bowling has enjoyed a revival in this country; annually, 70 million people bowl, often at newer "mixed use" centers that also provide dining, video games, and other activities, says an industry expert. Such facilities can exceed $1 million in annual sales, according to Amusement Entertainment Management, a New Jersey-based industry consultant. "The more successful bowling executives say, 'I want all the family business I can get.'" says Frank Seninsky, a bowling industry expert for AEM.

Open for a year, Pinstripes has attracted a steady flow of customers, who often bowl a few rounds and then stick around to enjoy dinner or a pickup game of bocce, also known as Italian lawn bowling. Schwartz is so confident of success that his company is constructing another Pinstripes in South Barrington while scouting the western suburbs to add a third complex. "We're doing well with parties, special events, and bowling leagues," he says. Once the Chicago-area Pinstripes are up and running, Schwartz says, he wants to expand into other regions.

HELP WANTED: Pinstripes is already adding more staff to handle demand at the Northbrook facility, which will employ 140 full- and part-time workers, Schwartz says. The search is on for chefs, bartenders, managers, event planners, and a few financial staffers.

PERKS AND BENEFITS: Most employees enjoy the buzz of working in a fast-paced sports/food complex; others are happy to have a part-time job, and some are seeking to further their careers as the company expands, he said.

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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
northwestern.edu
Private research university attended by 8,000 undergrads and 7,100 graduate students
LOCATION: Evanston
EMPLOYEES: 7,100 on faculty and staff

Offer a limited supply of a product that's in high demand, and the world will beat a path to your door—or ivory tower, as in the case of top-notch universities like Northwestern. Despite annual tuition of $36,756, NU continues to attract a growing crush of would-be students. Freshman applications are up 54 percent over the past three years; last fall more than 25,000 applicants knocked on the university's door, but only 2,025 were admitted.

NU is a thriving local business with a $1.2-billion budget and solid financial footing: Its endowment fund, valued at $6.5 billion in 2007, is 11th among all U.S. universities and was up 26.5 percent from the year before, according to the Washington-based National Association of College and University Business Officers. The big jump stems largely from a one-time windfall of $700 million NU earned last year by selling its royalty interest in the pain relief drug Lyrica, which was developed at the university, to a major pharmaceutical company.

HELP WANTED: A recent check of the school's job board showed about 300 positions open on the Evanston and Chicago campuses. While it may be tough to become a full professor, NU needs information technology specialists, administrative staff, and people with financial and accounting skills.

PERKS AND BENEFITS: You won't get stock options, but NU offers a benefit package that rivals those of many corporations. Employees can get discounts up to 85 percent on NU tuition, and up to 90 percent for their spouses and children. (Employees' children can also get up to 37 percent off tuition at other schools.) Medical benefits are available for full- and part-time workers logging more than 17½ hours per week. The university also offers same-gender domestic partner benefits, and matches $2 for every dollar employees contribute to the NU retirement plan.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES: Other local universities are also looking to staff up. A recent check of online job postings found the University of Chicago (uchicago.edu) had about 150 positions open (many of them for health care technicians and professionals at its medical center). DePaul University (depaul.edu) had about 60 openings, while Loyola University (luc.edu) had more than 65 openings. Both of the latter were looking primarily to hire administrative assistants, information technology staff, and part-time help. The University of Illinois at Chicago (uic.edu) was also looking mostly for health care specialists and medical technicians, with more than 60 open slots in all.

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MCDONALD'S
mcdonalds.com
Supersized purveyor of burgers, fries, and other fast food, with more than 31,000 restaurants worldwide
HEADQUARTERS: Oak Brook
CHICAGO-AREA EMPLOYEES: 29,000, including 3,800 at headquarters, division, and regional offices, and roughly 25,000 at more than 430 area restaurants

With consumers watching their budgets like hawks, a lot of restaurants are feeling indigestion—dining out, after all, is an easy expenditure to trim—but the new austerity may actually be helping McDonald's, home of the dollar double-cheeseburger and other budget-friendly fare. "Fast food is much more of a consumer staple now, not a discretionary item," says John Owens, an equity analyst at Morningstar covering the restaurant industry. "It's very difficult for families to save that much money by preparing food at home versus [McDonald's] dollar menu. So we think fast food, and McDonald's in particular, is recession resistant."

McDonald's has been on a tear over the past few years, in part because business is booming in places like Europe, Russia, and China. But even in a slowing U.S. market, life under the arches has been golden—domestic same-store sales have mostly galloped ahead in recent months. The popular dollar menu, successful new products such as salads and wraps, and expanded store hours that have boosted breakfast and late-night business have all contributed to sizzling top- and bottom-line growth.

HELP WANTED: That growth, in turn, has spurred a hiring boomlet. If the typical McDonald's restaurant employed 50 people a year ago, the figure is closer to 60 today, says Danitra Barnett, U.S. vice president of human resources operations. Also, with restaurant staff turnover approaching 100 percent per year, it pretty much guarantees a perpetual hiring frenzy. Most of the demand, of course, is for low-wage burger flippers and other crew. But those who stick around and excel can move up—each store employs about half a dozen managers earning an hourly wage and three or four managers on salary. At the Oak Brook headquarters, turnover is considerably lower, but need abounds. The company was recently looking to fill 85 open corporate positions—everything from lawyers and accountants to supply chain experts and real-estate pros.

PERKS AND BENEFITS: McDonald's has a long history of promoting from within (Barnett started as crew 28 years ago) and doling out abundant perks. Flexible work arrangements run the gamut from job sharing to compressed workweeks. Salaried employees get ample paid time off (including eight-week sabbaticals every ten years), annual stock options, profit sharing bonuses, and a generous 401(k) match ($3 for every $1 an employee contributes up to 3 percent of pay, and then a dollar for each dollar up to 7 percent of pay). Now even part-time employees are feeling the love—the company recently started offering them medical and dental coverage.

STOCK WATCH: Investors waiting to take a bite of McDonald's stock after a big pullback have been mostly disappointed in recent years. The stock has nearly doubled over the past two years and tripled over the past five while also paying a dividend. Right now, says Morningstar's Owens, the stock is fairly valued. "We think the market has finally gained an appreciation of what a great business this is, and that's reflected in the stock price," he says.

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 Photograph: Jetta Productions/Stone/Getty Images

This article appears in the July 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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