National Instruments Honored for 11th Consecutive Year as One of FORTUNE's '100 Best Companies to Work For'

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 21, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FORTUNE magazine named National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI) to its annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the 11th consecutive year. The annual survey randomly polls employees from hundreds of companies nationwide regarding the quality of their corporate cultures and filters results through strict criteria to select the best workplaces.

"We are honored that, in a time when the U.S. went through the most challenging job climate in decades, FORTUNE has again recognized NI as one of the best places to work in the nation," said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. "The results show that NI remains a built-to-last company that truly values its people, even in challenging times when it can be difficult for some companies to keep commitments. This also illustrates the rock-solid success of our 100-year plan for being a stable company that empowers employees and customers to change the world."

Best known for pioneering virtual instrumentation with its LabVIEW graphical system design platform, National Instruments has revolutionized the way engineers and scientists work since 1976. NI offers numerous professional and personal development initiatives to support the company's philosophy that well-balanced employees foster the NI community spirit and inspire excellence. And in light of the hard economic times, the company has maintained an atmosphere in which employees have fun with numerous activities such as informal on-site events, talent shows and various employee appreciation events. In addition, programs such as the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics mentorships with local schools and regular volunteer campaigns provide employees opportunities to give back to their communities by putting their talents and passions into practice.

The company also offers an on-site medical clinic and gym as well as various wellness programs to encourage a healthy lifestyle. NI activities such as Employee Appreciation Week, deck parties and company-wide meetings also contribute to an enjoyable sense of community within the corporate environment. NI also provides more than 1,000 training and development opportunities to help employees advance their technical and professional skills.

"We are proud that NI and our employees successfully weathered this economic storm together," said Mark Finger, NI vice president of worldwide human resources. "Our leadership made concerted efforts during this time to increase open communication with employees through quarterly business discussions and town hall meetings, all the while maintaining the fun NI culture that keeps our company unique. Many efforts like this helped to earn the trust and commitment of our employees, and we are excited that we are all working together toward a bright future."

In addition to the U.S. honors, the Great Place to Work Institute, which compiles the list of best employers for FORTUNE each year, named National Instruments as one of the best places to work in Germany, Italy, Mexico, France and the UK during the last year.

How FORTUNE Chose the 100 Best

To pick the 100 Best Companies, FORTUNE partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Three hundred forty-three companies participated in this year's survey. Two-thirds of a company's score is based on the results of the Institute's Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie. The other third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the Institute's Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring, communication and diversity. For more information on the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, visit www.fortune.com/bestcompanies.

About National Instruments

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 30,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 11 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing [email protected] or visiting www.ni.com/nati. (NATI-G)

LabVIEW, National Instruments, NI and ni.com are trademarks of National Instruments. Other product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

LEGO and MINDSTORMS are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2010 The LEGO Group.

Editor Contact:  Hilary Marchbanks, (512) 683-5937

SOURCE National Instruments