LinkedIn’s newest Top Companies ranking has revealed the international companies which, according to the networking social media platform, are the best employers for career development in Germany. Home-grown companies took half of the places in the top 10.

LinkedIn’s Top Companies in Germany 2024

For the eighth year in a row, LinkedIn has assembled a list of the top 25 employers in Germany, by ranking companies based on the quality of jobs and career development they provide.

To rank each company, LinkedIn analysed all firms active on its platform with more than 500 workers that have not laid off more than 10 percent of their workforce between January 1, 2023, and April 16, 2024.

It’s important to note that only parent and independent companies are ranked - for example, Proctor & Gamble (which owns Gillette, Oral-B and Pantene) is counted as one company instead of multiple. Also, the ranking does not consider employee satisfaction and the experience of working at the selected companies.

Each company was rated through the following criteria:

• Professional advancement of workers both within a company and after they leave
• Options for training and career development within the firm
• Company stability
• Job prospects once a worker leaves the firm
• Company affinity
• Gender distribution
• Employer reputation / relevance
• Average level of education among employees

Pharmaceutical industry dominates employer ranking

While German companies took the majority of top spots in the LinkedIn ranking, first place was granted to Sandoz, a pharmaceutical company based in Switzerland. Airbus followed in second before Siemens appeared in third place, making the firm the highest-ranked German company in the top 10.

The “global leader in adhesives, sealants and functional coatings” Henkel, a company based in Düsseldorf, took fourth place, followed by another pharmaceutical giant, Paris-based Sanofi, in fifth place. The latter five firms of the top 10 were dominated by German companies, namely Volkswagen, pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and finally, Bosch. 

LinkedIn’s 10 best employers in Germany in 2024

In all, here are the 10 best employers in Germany in 2024, according to LinkedIn:

1. Sandoz (Pharmaceutical manufacturing)
2. Airbus (Aviation manufacturing)
3. Siemens (Industrial automation)
4. Henkel (Manufacturing)
5. Sanofi (Pharmaceutical manufacturing)
6. Volkswagen Group (Motor vehicle manufacturing) 
7. Boehringer Ingelheim (Pharmaceutical manufacturing)
8. Boston Consulting Group (Business consulting)
9. Bosch (Software development)
10. Kering (Retail luxury goods and jewellery)

For more information on how the study was created and to see the rest of the ranking check out the official website.

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