The Hershey Company today was named to the Forbes list of America's Best-in-State Employers in Pennsylvania 2023, ranking #33. The company also appears for the first time on the list for Virginia. Among the reasons for landing on the list, Forbes cited the company's "north star of goodness," which is behind giving employees competitive pay, career development programs, flexible working arrangements, and generous parental leave for both salaried and shift workers.

"Inspired by a shared purpose, our employees are motivated each day to make more moments of goodness with our consumers. This simple, yet profound, purpose underpins every decision we make as a company and as a result has an exponential impact on our ~20,000 employees," said Chris Scalia, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at The Hershey Company. "It is this exact purpose and our people-first strategy that makes us a great place to work, ensuring everyone can learn, grow and thrive."

Presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider, companies recognized were identified based on 2.1 million employer recommendations from employees working for companies with more than 500 employees in the United States and are grouped into one of the 25 industry sectors. Employers with operations in more than one state can also be ranked in multiple states.

The evaluation is made on a state-by-state basis based on three distinct criteria: in-state indirect recommendations, national in-industry indirect recommendations and direct recommendations. Furthermore, employees were asked to give their opinions on a series of statements surrounding work-related topics of e.g. working conditions, diversity, salary, potential for development, and company image regarding their current employer.

"Our entire team rallies around the effort to make Hershey a place where our employees feel pride in the work they do, feel appreciated by the company they do it for, and in the collaboration and teamwork with the people they do it with," said Scalia. "At the end of the day, we place our people at the center of everything we do so that they value The Hershey Company as much as we value them."

Read the full Forbes list here.