WorkForce West Virginia’s list of the 100 largest employers, compiled from March 2016 data, ranks WVU Medicine as the state’s largest private employer. Wal-Mart, which held the top spot from 1998 through 2015, fell to number two.
The list contains businesses with both single and multiple locations and ranks companies according to the number of employees. The data is extracted from the Quarterly Contribution Report for the first quarter of each year and is available to the public by the third quarter of each year. Employment numbers are not disclosed to maintain employer confidentiality.
West Virginia’s top five largest private employers are WVU Medicine, Wal-Mart, Charleston Area Medical Center, Kroger, and Mylan Pharmaceuticals. The top two employers switched positions from last year, while the positions of the remaining three employers were unchanged from 2015.
Rounding out the top 10, Lowe’s Home Centers rose from number eight to number six; St. Mary’s Medical Center remained at number seven; Cabell Huntington Hospital inched upward to number eight from number nine; Wheeling Hospital entered the top 10 at number nine; and Res-Care, Inc. remained at number 10.
The top 10 employers of March 2016 had a total of 4,395 more employees than the top 10 employers of 2015.
Just over one-third of employers on the top 100 list climbed in rank, while slightly over one-third of businesses descended in rank. The ranking of 16 employers was unchanged from last year, while 14 employers not present on last year’s top 100 made an appearance on this year’s list.
This list was prepared from information provided by employers covered under the Unemployment Compensation Insurance system, through the federal/state Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program conducted in West Virginia by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, and the Research, Information and Analysis Division of WorkForce West Virginia.
Historical data for the state, counties, and workforce regions, as well as a full list of the largest private employers, can be found on this website http://lmi.workforcewv.org or by contacting the Research, Information and Analysis Division at 304-558-2660.
