The best companies to work for in 2020, according to Glassdoor

A little job satisfaction goes a long way towards retaining happy, productive workers, but a lot of job satisfaction goes much further. This year’s Employees’ Choice Awards, hosted by the recruitment site Glassdoor, reveal which companies have the most satisfied employees.

Big tech companies, such as Microsoft and Facebook, continue to attract favourable reviews to make the US top 20 list, but smaller software company HubSpot was voted the top employer. The businesses impressing their employees today are more of a mixed bag than in recent years, pushing Silicon Valley’s dominant players further down the list of favoured employers.

Now in its 12th edition, the Best Places to Work in 2020 awards are decided by the workers, who review their job, the workplace buzz (or lack of it) and their employer. The employees then submit ratings based on a five-point scale, ranging from 1.0 for very dissatisfied (must try harder), right up to 5.0 for very satisfied (good work).

You can find out more about the methodology here.

A culture-first ethos

While the survey features responses from nine countries, HubSpot tops the ranking for large (1000+ employees) companies in the US.

Having made the list on five previous occasions, this year marked the first time it's taken the top spot.

According to Glassdoor, the sales and marketing software company has embraced a culture-first ethos, which drives employee engagement and helps create a workplace that people like to come to each day.

In third place in the US list, previous winner DocuSign is one of many businesses in the top 25 list with headquarters in Silicon Valley and northern California. According to Glassdoor, the company is focused on empowering employees, investing in a sound work culture and professional development for staff members. It’s one of a handful of smaller tech companies that ranked ahead of giants including Google (11th), LinkedIn (12th), Microsoft (21st) and Facebook (23rd).

Technology aside, the business interests of high-performing companies also include healthcare, retail, travel and tourism, consulting and finance.

Boston-based consulting group Bain & Company took the second spot in the US list, while fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger earned a company rating of 4.6 to rank fourth. Further down the top 10, staff at education company VIPKids (9th) and those at Southwest Airlines (10th) were both impressed with their employers.

Newcomers to the US top 100 list include SurveyMonkey (33rd), Dell Technologies (67th) and software company Slack (69th).

Working around the world

Global technology behemoths were in force on lists outside of the US. Microsoft headed the list of Best Places to Work 2020 in Canada, ahead of customer relationship software company Salesforce, with VIPKids in third.

Google topped the UK list and took top honours in Singapore, beating Facebook (2nd) and Amazon (4th).

In Brazil, Google placed third, behind German software company SAP, which was voted the best place to work in Argentina.

Salesforce was voted best employer in France, with Hermès in second, while German workers chose a favorite closer to home, selecting car manufacturer Porsche as their preferred employer.

“In addition to putting culture and mission at the core of how they operate, this year’s winners stand out for promoting transparency with employees, offering career growth opportunities and providing work driven by impact and purpose,” Glassdoor president Christian Sutherland-Wong said.