Dive Brief:

• Amazon topped LinkedIn’s list of America’s 50 best places to work, according to a list released Wednesday that also included disruptors like Uber, Airbnb, Alphabet, Facebook and Salesforce.

• The list also includes Apple (number six), French fashion conglomerates LVMH (19) and Kering (38) as well as Nike (35) and Starbucks (46). Companies with some retail operations, like Disney, Dell, Verizon, Tesla and WeWork, also made the list.

• The list, which was formulated based on billions of actions taken by LinkedIn members (but didn’t include LinkedIn itself or owner Microsoft), focused on four main pillars: interest in the company, engagement with the company’s employees, job demand and employee retention, according to a blog post from LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth.

Dive Insight:

Perhaps it’s no surprise that many of the retailers on LinkedIn’s list are also on the cutting edge of technology, not least Amazon, which is as much a tech company as a seller of goods.

But having the right technology doesn't necessarily translate into the cutting edge employee practices. Amazon's reputation as a ruthless employer came to light after the publication of a 2015 New York Times article detailed "bruising" working conditions that fly in the face of today's HR trends. Since then, the company has made more of an effort to help underperforming employees, through programs including Pivot, which launched last summer. Just last month, reports surfaced that Amazon is willing to pay less-than-happy employees to quit the company. The online retailer offers hourly workers at its customer-service centers and warehouses up to $5,000 once a year, depending on how long they've been on staff. Employees who accept what's called "The Offer" agree not to work for the organization again, according to HR Dive.

Also on Linkedin's list are many tech-oriented startups, including Airbnb and Uber. But famous perks of working at such tech-and-disruption companies — benefits like foosball tables, all-you-can-eat cafeterias and nap rooms — aren’t the only ways that these companies attract so many applicants whenever they post open positions, Roth said. They also keep employee health and health care costs "top of mind," according to his post, noting that Amazon and PMorgan Chase & Co. (which landed at number 18) have partnered to revolutionize health care coverage and that Apple is reportedly developing primary care clinics for its workers.

Plus, these top companies are also dedicated to forging a diverse workforce, according to LinkedIn. And employees consistency cited being able to working at a cutting edge company, rather than any perks, as a major motivation, Roth said.

To compile the list, LinkedIn number-crunchers looked at what rate are people viewing and applying to job postings, including paid and unpaid listings and those linked from other sites; how many professionals view a company’s career page and how many new followers the company attracts; how many non-employees are viewing and asking to connect with a company’s employees; and whether employees stick around for at least a year.