Company details

HEADCOUNT

10000+

ORG TYPE

Corporate

SECTOR

Media & Comms

WEBSITE

http://www.coxenterprises.com/

About the company

Cox Enterprises is a privately held conglomerate with major divisions in communications and automotive services, including well-known consumer brands in car shopping and pricing. The company describes a long-term, family-owned approach and positions the business as values-led. Public company materials describe roughly 50,000 employees globally and multi-billion-dollar annual revenue. The company’s operating footprint spans multiple subsidiaries and business lines rather than a single product.

Locations and presence

Cox Enterprises is headquartered in Atlanta (corporate campus in Sandy Springs) with roles across the US and some international employee presence. Hiring is spread across the wider Cox family of businesses, including Cox Communications and Cox Automotive.

Palpable Score

80.5

/ 100

Cox Enterprises is one of the clearer “yes” signals for early-career candidates, with paid internships, paid co-ops, and a paid rotational program backed by published mentoring and retention data. The score is not higher because entry routes are still somewhat funnelled through seasonal cycles and specific programs, rather than being visible across most year-round openings.

Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

16.8

/ 20

The company runs a dedicated Early Career area with internships, co-ops, and a full-time rotational leadership development program (LEAD).
Cox Enterprises states internships are paid and offers them across a wide spread of functions (for example software engineering, product, data science, finance, marketing) on the early-career internships page.
The company limits internships to a summer-only cycle and recruiting timing is seasonal, which can make entry-level access feel “windowed” rather than always-on.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

14.5

/ 20

The company spells out a typical internship interview sequence (recruiter interview, hiring manager interview, then panel or team interview), which helps early-career candidates prepare.
Cox Enterprises posts base pay ranges in many job descriptions, reducing salary ambiguity during the process.
The company’s public interview feedback shows some early-career pathways (including LEAD) can include practical or case-style interviews, which is fair when role-relevant but can raise the burden for first-time applicants.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

17.0

/ 20

The company publishes multiple formal mentoring routes, including an intern mentoring program and an “Emerging Talent” mentoring option that connects mentees with mentors across divisions.
Cox Enterprises describes LEAD as including training, coaching, ongoing education, and role rotations, which is unusually explicit support for a rotational early-career pathway.
The company also points to an Internal Mobility team offering interview prep, résumé support, skill-building, networking, and career transitions, which is practical help beyond day-one onboarding.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

17.0

/ 20

The company confirms internships are paid and positions early-career placements as real work on real business problems rather than “shadow-only” placements.
Cox Enterprises’ published benefits include a 401(k) with company match, student debt assistance services, paid parental leave, and family-building benefits, which supports stability for juniors and grads.
The company’s compensation approach is strong where pay ranges are shown, but not every early-career landing page spells out ranges or hourly bands up front, which slightly limits comparability for students.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

15.2

/ 20

The company reports that 85% of LEAD alumni stay at Cox after the program and 66% are still with the company after five years, which is rare, outcome-level data for early-career retention.
Cox Enterprises also reports that participants in internal project-gig opportunities are significantly less likely to leave than non-participants, pointing to development pathways that correlate with retention.
The company reports that over half of employees have five years or more tenure (in the cited reporting period), which supports the idea that early-career hires can stay long enough to build depth, even though public promotion examples by level are limited.

Useful links & resources

Early Career at Cox (internships, co-ops, LEAD)Cox Internships (paid internship details and process)LEAD Program (paid rotational program)