Find Great Careers in Greater Chattanooga

Greater Chattanooga offers jobs for all experience levels and locations.

By Joe Morris on August 7, 2023

Whether you’re a new grad looking for a job, a seasoned member of the workforce with a new career interest or just someone who values a flexible work schedule, Greater Chattanooga is a land of opportunity.

Start and Stay

Chattanooga is home to several higher education institutions, creating a robust pipeline of highly trained potential employees. Many of these newly minted college grads find their way to Unum, the Chattanooga-based Fortune 500 insurance and financial services company. Unum has helped hundreds launch their careers and put down roots in the area.

A robust basic benefits package is a major enticement, and it’s made even richer with such programs as fertility support and adoption assistance, says Holly Jo Haynes, assistant vice president of talent acquisition, who has been with the company for 11 years.

“From a tenure perspective, I’m still viewed as fairly new, which says a lot about what a great place Unum is to work,” Haynes says. “This is a place where you can find a career, not just a job. We invest in our employees and are inclusive of everyone so they can grow with us.”

Because Unum has opportunities at all levels, it recruits not only recent grads but also actively works to bring in people with years or even decades of experience. It grows its own pipeline through student internships, one in the summer and another via its Year-Round Scholar Program.

“These are students who convert to full-time employees after they graduate,” Haynes says. “They are high performers, getting a taste for our culture and the work while earning good money to put themselves through school. They come in with a baseline of knowledge, which really helps.”

The company was able to keep its workforce during the pandemic by shifting people from less-busy areas to those that had ramped up. That meant no layoffs as well as the ability to create a hybrid work environment that supported the entire team.

Creative Culture

Greater Chattanooga is also a magnet for tech companies and their workers. One standout company is Text Request, which is recognized by Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Inc. 5000.

“Early on in Text Request’s life, we took to heart that culture is the one thing you build in a company without ever meaning to, and that we’d better get it right,” says Kenneth Burke, vice president of marketing. “We’ve been intentional in creating a place where people love to come to work. That phrase is even in our mission statement. It creates an environment where people care — that makes a difference. We also give people autonomy to own their work, and we look for a strong values fit when hiring — grit, craftsmanship, empathy and education.”

Chattanooga provides the perfect backdrop for that growth, Burke says, because it provides the community resources that also draw and keep employees. That means supporting, as well as benefiting, from all the area has to offer for quality of life.

“The part of our mission statement that includes ‘where people love to come to work’ ends with ‘in Chattanooga,’” he says. “We do have remote employees, but Chattanooga is our home, our headquarters, our happy place. We — individually and as a company — want to see Chattanooga thrive, and we contribute accordingly. That looks like employees and owners being community board members, coaches and advisers. It looks like donating to causes that strengthen Chattanooga. It looks like contributing Text Request’s services to organizations and partners that are committed to that same goal. It looks like being active members of our community and encouraging each other to do the same.”