When it comes to having a pup-friendly workplace, Amazon is the top dog.
Dog-sitting platform Rover released its inaugural “best dog-friendly companies” list, ranking the top 100 workplaces across the U.S. The methodology was based on number of dogs allowed in the office, dog and pet parent perks, and on-site amenities.
Amazon is known for going the extra mile to welcome canines into its work space. There are more than 6,000 registered dogs who come to Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, with 500 coming in on the average day. More than 45,000 people work at the Seattle headquarters.
Dogs have been a familiar sight at Amazon since 1998, when an early Amazonian couple’s Welsh corgi, Rufus, started coming to work and became a symbol of the company’s peculiar culture.
Today, there’s everything from an off-leash park next to the Spheres that opened in 2017 to a dog-deck in the sky. There are treats at every reception desk, and there’s a @dogsofamazon Instagram account. Thousands of employees communicate on an internal “Woof Pack” group. Some offices have dog-friendly water fountains.
Amazon even throws up a picture of a pooch on its error page if a user has trouble connecting to the website.
Trupanion, meanwhile, ranked No. 3 on the list. Founded in 1999, the Seattle-based company provides dog and cat insurance. It also employs an in-house dog walker for company employees. Trupanion said it currently has a 1:2 pet to employee ratio, “one of the highest in the country.”
“Allowing pets in the office creates an overall better place to work,” the company says on its website. “Employees feel more inspired, more creative, and more comfortable. Executives take pride in seeing their employees happy and thriving.”
Amazon and Trupanion also ranked No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, on a similar list from Wellness Natural Pet Food.
Other Seattle-area companies to make Rover’s list include Ookla, RealSelf, Possible, Karat, Flyhomes, Avvo, Outreach, and Tune.
Seattle recently ranked as the most dog-friendly city in the U.S. — it is also now home to rentable high-tech dog lockers — and with a fierce battle for tech talent, it’s no surprise that several local companies made Rover’s list.
Rover — another Seattle-based company and a leading pet sitting service — cited studies that show how dogs can alleviate workplace stress and increase trust among co-workers.
“Company culture is one of the most important factors that attracts talent to a workplace and tends to keep them there,” Jovana Teodorovic, Rover’s head of people and culture, said in a statement. “While having dogs at the office brings the obvious playfulness and endless wagging tails, it also heightens employees’ emotional intelligence, helping them feel more comfortable opening up with one another.”
However, some say that allowing pets in the office is “not an inclusive policy,” as one Google employee recently tweeted and sparked a big debate online.
Check out Rover’s full list here.
