Washington company ranks as No. 1 best employer in world, Forbes says. Which one?
The best employer in the world is based in Washington.
That’s according to a new ranking by the media company Forbes, released Oct. 8.
A total of 900 companies made the ranking, and they represent a wide variety of industries, from technology to travel and more.
To be considered, companies had to have more than 1,000 employees and operate globally, according to Forbes, which is known for its lists and rankings.
So, which company from the Evergreen State topped the list? And did other Washington companies also make the ranking?
What Washington companies are on Forbes’ best employers list?
Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, ranked No. 1 on Forbes’ list. The software and technology company was founded in 1975 and has about 228,000 employees, per Forbes.
The Issaquah-based Costco Wholesale also placed high on the best employers list, coming in at No. 12. The retail giant, founded in 1983, has about 333,000 employees, Forbes said.
Two other Washington companies ranked in the top 100 best employers, including the Seattle-based Amazon, which came in at No. 59. It has about 1.55 million employees, Forbes said.
The online shopping company founded in 1994 announced Oct. 28 that it’s reducing its corporate workforce by about 14,000 positions. Amazon said AI is “enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before” and that “we’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”
The online travel company Expedia Group, based in Seattle, also made the top 100, coming in at No. 92. The company started in 1996 and has about 10,000 employees, per Forbes.
The Olympian checked the top 100 companies on Forbes’ list to determine whether they’re headquartered in Washington; others from the state may also appear lower on the list.
What are the best employers in the world?
Here are the top 15 best employers in the world for 2025, according to Forbes:
1. Microsoft, U.S.
2. Delta Air Lines, U.S.
3. Alphabet, U.S.
4. Adobe, U.S.
5. BMW Group, Germany
6. NVIDIA, U.S.
7. Sony, Japan
8. IBM, U.S.
9. Apple, U.S.
10. Lego Group, Denmark
11. Samsung Electronics, South Korea
12. Costco Wholesale, U.S.
13. Cisco Systems, U.S.
14. Shopify, Canada
15. Rolex, Switzerland
You can peruse the entire list and read more about each company here.
How did Forbes come up with its list?
Forbes said it surveyed 300,000-plus workers in more than 50 countries in partnership with Statista, a market research firm.
“Survey respondents were asked where they worked via an open-ended question with an autofill option,” according to Forbes, which said the surveys were done online.
“The participants noted how likely they were to recommend their employer to family and friends, and rated the company on such criteria as salary, career advancement opportunities, work-life balance and company reputation,” Forbes said.
They could weigh in on past employers and on employers they were familiar with through their work or through family and friends, according to Forbes.
“The responses were then tallied and put through a scoring system that included data from the previous three years, with heavier weight given to the more recent data and to the evaluations from current employees,” Forbes said, adding that “the corporations that earned the highest scores made our final ranking.”
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