DETROIT — For the second consecutive year, the nation’s best place to work in technology is not in Silicon Valley, New York or Austin, but in the growing tech hub of Detroit.
Quicken Loans has earned the No. 1 ranking on Computerworld
magazine’s 2014 ‘Best Places to Work In IT’ list in the large company
category, marking the fifth time in 10 years the nation’s second largest retail mortgage lender has been named No. 1 in the benchmark employee survey.
Meanwhile, among small companies, the Southfield-based IT
operations, application outsourcing and cloud computing provider
Secure-24 Inc. earned the No. 11 spot. Last year, Secure-24 was
rated No. 57 among all companies, before the list was split into larger
and smaller businesses.
Computerworld’s ‘100 Best Places to Work in IT’ list is determined
through a comprehensive survey focusing on the company’s core culture, including benefits, diversity, career development, training and retention. In addition, Computerworld conducts an employer questionnaire to determine the company’s goals and opinions on its culture.
“We take great pride in hiring and empowering the best technology
talent in the country. Our team members know we want them to
experiment, challenge the status quo and bring us their very best
every day,” said Quicken CEO Bill Emerson. “When people are free
to create and innovate their impact is immeasurable. Our technology
team is a very big part of Quicken Loans’ ongoing success, and we
continue to look for them to move us forward.”
The 1,100 member technology team was a driving force in helping
Quicken Loans close a record $80 billion in home loan volume in
2013 while aggressively building a $140 billion mortgage servicing
portfolio, making the company the nation’s 11th largest servicer.
“Our IT team members not only work ‘in’ the business, but also ‘on’
the business, finding the improvements and inches that have made us
one of the largest mortgage lenders and the best place to work in
technology in the nation,” said Quicken CIO Linglong He. “If you’re a
talented IT professional who is looking to work with an expert team,
gain experience in a wide-range of areas and truly impact the
outcome, there’s no better place to be than Detroit and at Quicken
Loans.”
Quicken’s IT training team offers the company’s IT employees 200
hours of annual technical training, including 40 hours of external
training, the IT training team helps technology team members further
their careers while also focusing on teaching and instilling a broad
base of hard and soft skills.
Quicken Loans and its family of companies currently have more than
80 open technology positions. To learn more or apply, visit
www.quickenloanscareers.com.
Meanwhile, at Secure-24, CEO Mike Jennings said: “We have built a
company centered on providing world-class technology solutions for
our clients. Innovation, great IT solutions and outstanding customer
service stem from a great workplace culture. We believe in
empowering our team members to achieve their personal and
professional goals, and this recognition is a testament to our
commitment.”
Secure-24 has a training program that allows new team members to
gain firsthand experiences by working directly with cutting-edge
technologies. Within a lab environment, employees have unrestricted
access and real-world challenges to consistently improve their skills.
In addition to competitive compensation packages, 100 percent paid
healthcare including dental and vision and other benefits, Secure-24
employees enjoy holiday parties, picnics, tickets to sporting events,
company sports teams (softball, flag football and hockey), happy
hours, catered lunches, free Starbucks service, treadmill
workstations, game rooms and complementary gym access. There
are also annual and monthly awards given to team members for
outstanding performance.
In keeping with the Secure-24 culture that values each team
member’s ideas and input, everyone has direct access to senior
management, which remains an important cornerstone of the
organization. Additionally, the company established an employee-led
advisory board where a continuously rotating group of team members meet to provide feedback to the leadership team.