20 growing US companies to work for if you want job security

By Andy Kiersz, Business Insider

When planning a career, job security is one of the many factors that you might be considering. We took a look at which major companies are likely to offer that security.

To get a sense of where employees can expect a long career, we reviewed median job tenure data for Fortune 500 companies based on a study from PayScale. We combined that with estimates of how much total employment at those companies changed between 2015 and 2018, according to Fortune, reasoning that companies with growing workforces are more likely to offer better job security than companies that are expanding more slowly or that have a shrinking number of employees.

Both PayScale's median tenure and Fortune's employment change estimates were available for 176 companies among the top 200 companies on Fortune's 2018 list. We ranked those companies from first to 176th on both measures and then averaged the resulting rankings together to get an overall sense of job security at those companies.

19 (tie). AT&T was the biggest telecom company by revenues in 2018.

Median employee tenure: 7.1 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 4%

19 (tie). Costco runs 762 warehouse-style stores worldwide.

Median employee tenure: 4.8 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 19%

18. AECOM is a massive engineering and infrastructure firm with building projects around the world

Median employee tenure: 3.9 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 101%

17. Ford Motor Company sold nearly 6 million vehicles worldwide in 2018

Median employee tenure: 5.8 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 8%

16. Progressive is one of the biggest auto insurers in the US

Median employee tenure: 4.7 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 27%

15. United Continental was the third-biggest airline by revenue in 2018

Median employee tenure: 12.6 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 7%

14. Arrow Electronics is a global electronics distributor with roots in a New York City radio shop started in 1935

Median employee tenure: 6.1 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 11%

13. DowDuPont is the result of a 2017 merger between chemical giants Dow and DuPont, and is currently in the process of being re-separated into three new companies

Median employee tenure: 4.4 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 84%

12. Abbott Laboratories produces a variety of health products, including diagnostic tests and nutritional supplements

Median employee tenure: 4.9 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 29%

11. Kraft Heinz is the result of a 2015 merger between Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz

Median employee tenure: 4.6 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 76%

10. Pfizer is a pharmaceutical giant that makes a vast array of drugs

Median employee tenure: 6.5 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 15%

9. CenturyLink was the fifth-biggest telecommunications company in the US by revenue in 2018

Median employee tenure: 10 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 13%

7 (tie). Southwest Airlines flies over 4,000 planes daily at peak travel times

Median employee tenure: 5.9 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 21%

7 (tie). Newell Brands makes several everyday consumer products, including Sharpie markers and Rubbermaid storage containers

Median employee tenure: 4.7 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 182%

6. FedEx ships over 15 million packages each business day on average

Median employee tenure: 6.1 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 20%

5. Tech Data is a major information technology distributor based in Clearwater, FL

Median employee tenure: 4.9 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 57%

4. Genuine Parts sells auto parts in the US under the well-known NAPA brand

Median employee tenure: 7 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 23%

2 (tie). Charter Communications provides cable, internet, and phone service under its Spectrum brand. Charter's employment grew dramatically owing to its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in 2016.

Median employee tenure: 4.9 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 309%

2 (tie). Fluor is an engineering and construction firm whose recent projects include oil sands development in Canada and the Governor Mario M. Cuomo bridge in New York

Median employee tenure: 5.1 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 51%

1. Lear Corporation is a leading manufacturer of auto seats and electrical parts

Median employee tenure: 6 years

Percent change in employment between 2015 and 2018: 32%