Explore the results of the Financial Times survey of Europe’s Best Employers 2025. Based on anonymous employee feedback, the ranking highlights leading companies across 26 industries. This year’s survey revealed that retail, financial services, and technology dominate, revealing key drivers of employee satisfaction and successful workplace cultures.
Creating a desirable workplace culture is a complex challenge for many companies today. They are constantly striving to build environments that keep employees engaged and productive. The goal is, ultimately, to attract and retain talented individuals for the long term.
So, what do employees really want from their employer? Is it just about a fair wage, or are flexible working arrangements, a wide range of benefits, and trust in senior leadership and middle managers more important? The answers are varied, but the goal remains the same: becoming one of Europe’s Best Employers, as judged by the Financial Times.
The Financial Times and data provider Statista have identified Europe‘s Best Employers in their inaugural ranking. This list features 1,000 companies across 26 industries.
These rankings stem from an unbiased survey in which employees respond to two main questions. The first question is whether they would suggest their employer to friends and family (direct endorsement). The second question asks if they would advise other firms within their industry (indirect endorsement). Direct recommendations, naturally, hold a greater weighting.
Country: United Kingdom
Sector: IT, Internet, Software, and Services
Score: 89.34
Country: Germany
Sector: Drugs and Biotechnology
Score: 88.41
Country: Ireland
Sector: IT, Internet, Software and Services
Score: 88.14
Country: United Kingdom
Sector: Construction
Score: 87.98
Country: Italy
Sector: Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol, and Tobacco
Score: 87.75
Country: Switzerland
Sector: Insurance
Score: 87.52
Country: Switzerland
Sector: Semiconductors, Electronics, Electrical Engineering, Hardware
Score: 87.26
Country: Switzerland
Sector: Clothing and Accessories, Sports Equipment (Manufacturing and Retail)
Score: 87.19
Country: Germany
Sector: Automotive (Producers and Suppliers)
Score: 87.01
Country: Ireland
Sector: Banking and Financial Services
Score: 86.93
Country: Italy
Sector: Clothing and Accessories, Sports Equipment (Manufacturing and Retail)
Score: 86.72
Country: Italy
Sector: Automotive (Producers and Suppliers)
Score: 86.66
Country: Germany
Sector: IT, Internet, Software and Services
Score: 86.40
Country: Switzerland
Sector: Clothing and Accessories, Sports Equipment (Manufacturing and Retail)
Score: 86.37
Country: Switzerland
Sector: Oil and Gas Operations, Mining, and Chemicals
Score: 86.36
Country: France
Sector: Health Care Equipment and Services
Score: 86.26
Country: Italy
Sector: Clothing and Accessories, Sports Equipment (Manufacturing and Retail)
Score: 86.15
Country: Netherlands
Sector: IT, Internet, Software and Services
Score: 86.12
Country: Ireland
Sector: IT, Internet, Software and Services
Score: 86.06
Country: United Kingdom
Sector: Automotive (Producers and Suppliers)
Score: 86.02
Looking at the ranking, you’ll notice some dominant industries represented: retail, financial services, and technology. Germany has the most companies featured in the ranking.
German employees enjoy robust labor protections, such as extensive parental leave, stringent termination regulations, and a co-determination system (known as Mitbestimmung), which allows worker representatives to occupy half the positions on the supervisory boards of major publicly traded firms.
The number of companies in the rankings by country highlights some clear leaders when it comes to national work culture:
The financial services sector often attracts job seekers with high salaries, prestige, and potential for career development. However, it can involve long hours, stress, and inflexible practices. Work environments with a work-life balance are key in this field.
The technology sector, on the other hand, is known for good earning potential, flexibility, remote working options, diverse career paths, and opportunities to work on creative and innovative projects.
The top-ranked company overall is OneAdvanced, a UK-based software group. This company supplies finance, procurement, risk management, and human resources software. Employees highlight its extensive training program and supportive working culture. They also offer benefits like four weeks of paternity leave and a salary review roughly every quarter.
Retail has traditionally been viewed as a sector with low pay, unpredictable and long hours, customer stress, repetitive tasks, and limited career progression. However, this industry scores highly in the ranking, with some companies successfully defying this perception.
Mercadona, a Spanish supermarket chain, is one such example. This privately owned grocery group is one of Spain’s most respected brands. Moreover, they offer benefits like flexible working hours, no Sunday working, a profit-sharing scheme, skills training, and a policy of internal promotion.
Despite offering attractive benefits, an organization might struggle to become a desirable workplace if it doesn’t get the fundamental basics right. Valuing workers, providing clear leadership, and ensuring managers are well-trained are crucial components. A workplace with values that resonate with employees also contributes to job satisfaction.
The methodology for identifying Europe’s Best Employers involved an independent survey. A large sample of European employees participated. Respondents work for companies employing at least 500 people within Europe. Employees answer an open survey on ft.com and access it via various online panels. This ensured a representative sample of the workforce.
Most importantly, employees answered the survey anonymously, without any connection to their employers. This allowed them to state their opinions openly, free from employer influence. The survey was open-ended regarding the employer and resulted in over 4,000,000 employer evaluations. The survey covered companies in 31 countries across Europe.
In the end, becoming one of Europe’s Best Employers is clearly about more than just offering competitive pay and benefits. It requires a fundamental commitment to valuing employees, providing strong leadership, and fostering a culture of support and development.
The companies at the top of this ranking demonstrate that listening to employees and adapting practices are key to building great places to work. They attract and retain top talent in a competitive landscape. Their success offers valuable lessons for any organization aiming to improve its employee experience and reputation.
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