Miami-Dade government makes “Best Employers” list by Forbes

Forbes declared Miami-Dade’s county government one of the most popular places to work in the country, based on a survey that ranked whether employees would recommend their employer to others.

The business magazine ranked Miami-Dade County government No. 48 on its America’s Best Employers 2016 list, just ahead of Hyatt Hotels and just behind Cornell University. Miami-Dade landed on the Top 50 despite ongoing labor disputes that have half of its 10 unions still working without new three-year contracts.

With a payroll of about 28,000 people, Miami-Dade government is the county’s second-largest employer, behind the school board. Florida International University, with about 3,500 employees, also made the Forbes list, snagging the No. 34 slot (behind Intuit but ahead of the Houston Methodist hospital group).

A Miami Herald Dade Data analysis last year found Miami-Dade’s payroll costs about $1.7 billion in 2014, or about $5 million a day. The median yearly compensation for a county employee was $60,272.

Forbes said it based the 2016 “Best Employers” ranking on a survey of 30,000 U.S. workers of organizations that employ at least 5,000 people. Respondents were asked, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely they were to recommend their employer to someone else.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Miami-Dade government makes “Best Employers” list by Forbes."