Some employees once called Viasat the tech industry’s best-kept secret, but those days are long over, said Chief People Officer Melinda Kimbro.
A string of recent accolades – including Viasat’s placement on Fortune’s 2019 Change the World list and on Hired’s 2019 Top San Diego Employers – are fast-increasing the public’s awareness of the Carlsbad-based global communications company.
This month, Viasat added another distinction to that list: For the first time, the company was named to Glassdoor’s 2020 Best Places to Work in the U.S. for large employers. Viasat earned a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, landing at No. 27 out of 100 companies recognized.
Based on nearly 700 reviews, Viasat rates 4.4 on a 5-point scale; the average overall rating for Glassdoor companies is 3.5. Glassdoor considers employees who rate their companies between 4 and 5 to be “very satisfied.”
“This is a tremendous achievement we’re incredibly proud of,” said Viasat’s Global Employer Brand Manager Natasha Azevedo. “Viasat has always been a place where employees can think big, act intelligently, and do the best work of their career. This recognition affirms that in a new way.”
High marks for Viasat CEO
Ninety percent of current and former employees said they’d recommend Viasat to a friend, and 95 percent gave Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg a thumbs-up.
Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest recruiting sites, asks reviewers to rate each company overall, and offers them the option to rate their CEO.
“We are incredibly grateful to our employees - both past and present - for their extraordinary enthusiasm and continued dedication to our business. When we started Viasat over 30 years ago, our goal was to create a culture and environment that would foster creativity and technical innovation and also be a genuinely great place to work,” said Mark Dankberg. “Our culture remains at the core of what we do and how we do it, and it is rewarding to know that it resonates so deeply with our employees.”
Glassdoor publishes employee-provided ratings and opinions on more than 600,000 companies worldwide. Reviews are anonymous and companies can’t edit them, so they provide authentic insights for potential candidates. Employees are asked to weigh in on the company’s career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, and work/life balance.
“This is something worth celebrating and a wonderful way to end 2019,” Azevedo said. “It’s especially significant because we’re in a tight labor market – a time when it’s even more important to stand out as an employer of choice.”
Recent reviews
So what are employees saying? Here’s a sample from recent reviews:
- “Every time I have pitched an idea, backed it up, and wanted to pursue a new area of thought or innovation, this company has supported me 100%.”
- “Viasat is a technical leader while maintaining an unbeatable work environment that fosters innovation, rewards hard work, encourages diversity and inclusion, and allows a healthy work/life balance.”
- “By constantly pushing the envelope of satellite technology and developing new communications technologies, there is a seemingly never-ending stream of challenging and interesting work.”
- “Everyone is kind, intelligent, and works with integrity and passion. You feel like you are a part of a family.”
To read more reviews on Viasat or add your own, visit Glassdoor.