by Cynthia Wall

Created on: May 24, 2009   Last Updated: May 26, 2009

Like much of the nation today, Raleigh North Carolina is suffering from high unemployment. In figures released on May 22, the overall state rate is 10.8 percent, slightly higher than the national average. Raleigh's is around 8 percent. The good news is that it's held steady in the last three months and that Raleigh is beginning to see some employment increases. Raleigh has always been a great place to work and live. Dubbed the Silicon Valley of the East, the city is full of high-tech firms who not only provide good working opportunities but who recognize the importance of family as well. Here are some highly-rated companies representing a cross section of industries in Raleigh.

1. Cisco Systems 7025 Kit Creek Rd. P.O. Box 14987, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Ph. 919.392.2000

Rated #6 as the Best Place to Work by Fortune Magazine, Cisco hires systems engineers, business analysts, IT engineers, customer support specialists, education specialist, software engineers, and summer internships in a variety of fields. Cisco makes this honored list because it is known for trust trust developed with its customers and within its staff. An employee is only hired at Cisco after passing several interviews and being deemed a fit with the hard working team-trust culture of Cisco. It is this work ethic that develops better products. Cisco employees also have flexibility to complete their work when and where they need to which leads to greater job satisfaction.

2. Kimley-Horn & Associates, 3001 Weston Parkway, Cary, NC 27513 Ph. 919.

677.2000.

Cary is a suburb of Raleigh. Kimley-Horn and Associates is an engineering and land planning firm with over 1000 employees. They provide consulting services to both public and private clients in the areas of aviation, environment, intelligent transportation systems, forensic engineering, landscape architecture, land planning, transit, transportation, roads and bridges, urban redevelopment, water resources, and wireless communications. They currently need entry level analysts with bachelors or masters degrees.

Kimley-Horn has moved up from #38 to #35 on Fortune Magazine's list of great places to work. One of the many reasons the company is highly-regarded by its employees is its profit sharing plan with employees via bonuses (up to 16% of pay) and retirement contributions. Even during the current recession, the company has held laid-off employees for several months in order for them to find new jobs.

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