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The 10 best places to work, according to millennials

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Few generations have been analyzed, scrutinized and critiqued as much as the millennial generation. One characteristic of this generation that makes up 35 percent of the U.S. workforce is that they have high standards for the places they work — but these standards may be misunderstood.

While it's often said that those between the ages of 22 and 37 want to work for flashy start-ups with glossy office spaces, trendy benefits and purported work-life balance, a growing body of evidence shows that millennials are not as picky as previously thought.

Harvard Business Review reports that millennials are actually less likely than baby boomers to say that creativity and fun are important to them when it comes to their careers, instead, the value opportunities to grow and learn. A 2016 Gallup report found that 60 percent of millennials are open to a wide range of job opportunities.

This research is reflected in Indeed's recent survey of the companies that millennials most want to work for. The job site found that a wide range of companies from finance to chemicals located in a wide-range of cities made the list.

Here are the 10 best places to work according to millennials:

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10. Dow Chemical Company

Headquarters: Midland, Michigan

9. EY

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

8. Capital One

Headquarters: McLean, Virginia

7. Pfizer

Headquarters: New York City, New York

6. Apple

Headquarters: Cupertino, California

A Southwest Airlines jet takes off.
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5. Southwest Airlines

Headquarters: Dallas, Texas

4. Delta

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

3. Kaiser Permanente

Headquarters: Oakland, California

2. Discover Financial Services

Headquarters: Riverwoods, Illinois

1. Northrop Group

Headquarters: Falls Church, Virginia

The US flag flies near the U.S. Air Force's B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber 'Spirit of Georgia' at the Northrop Grumman Corp. facility at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale on July 17, 2014
Al Seib | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Global security company Northrop Group topped the list as the company that millennials rated most favorably. One reason that Northrop Group stood out, according to Indeed, was because of the company's emphasis on social impact, including a STEM education initiative, veterans' services initiative and an environmental and natural disaster response initiative. A recent Deloitte study found that 83 percent of millennials think a company's success should be defined by its impact on society as well as its financial performance.

Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente earned a third-place ranking on Indeed's list and was also recently ranked the best place to work by interns.

Finance companies like Discover and Capital One as well as travel companies like Delta and Southwest Airlines ranked highly among millennials despite not having the flashy reputations of Silicon Valley tech companies like Facebook. The only tech company to make the list was Apple.

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