Fortune Includes Continental in List of 18 Best Big Companies to Work For

Leading publication, Fortune has recognized Continental as one of the best 18 big companies to work for. Attracting and retaining talent is not an easy task. While some companies try to attract good people by providing gourmet lunches, office spas and foosball tables, others provide perks that are meant to help employees follow their passions and interests. Continental belongs to the second group and emerged as the only manufacturing company to be included in the prestigious list published by Fortune.

Commenting on the company’s inclusion in the list, Samir Salman, CEO of Continental North America said that the Continental tries to attract employees who are committed to making the world a better place. It gives its employees the freedom to act and provides them with opportunities to learn, grow and meet their professional and personal goals. He concluded by saying that the company was honored to be part of such an impressive list of employee-focused organizations.

The stories of two Continental employees show how the company’s efforts to empower its employees have fared:

• Last year, Continental employee. Jonathan Stone, head of Programs for Research and Advanced Engineering at Continental was deeply moved by the story of how a wrong-way driver killed an entire family. He turned his grief into action and with the company’s support, Stone and his team developed technology that warns uses a dashboard or mobile alert to alert motorists whenever a nearby car is driving the wrong way. Crashes involving wrong-way drivers are highly dangerous, causing more than one fatality per crash. Stone’s potentially life-saving technology is now being tested in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as part of a Smart City Mobility and Transportation Hub.

• Kabir Maiga, a former engineer at the company who worked on keyless entry technology for vehicles, conceptualized the idea of a keyless home-entry system. He pitched the idea to Continental through its co-pace startup program and with the company’s support set up his own company, PassiveBolt.

Encourage and support like this make Continental an employer of choice for innovators and visionaries. The company’s employees have an impact on the future of mobility in three ways: environmentally, economically and socially.

Rick Ledsinger, senior vice president of Human Relations, Continental North America and Tire the Americas said that Continental is committed to its employees and proud of the ideas they bring to work.
Ledsigner added, “Their passion drives Continental forward and inspires us to continue to make our company an enjoyable, exciting and fulfilling place to work. From our co-pace program, to tuition reimbursement, Software Academy and our investment in diversifying and retooling our workforce, Continental is leading the way for technology employers.”

In order to be considered for inclusion in Fortune’s List of the Best Big Companies to Work For list, companies had to have at least 1,000 employees in the United States and at least 100,000 employees globally. Fortune engaged research firm Great Place to Work to survey employees about working conditions and the ability to reach their full potential as part of the process to make the final list. In addition to these experiences, the process reviews workforce make-up, size, and industry and regional standards to create the final list.