Ellie Horvath
Glassdoor, the worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies, has announced the winners of its annual Employees’ Choice Awards, honouring the Best Places to Work 2023 across the UK and four other countries. Unlike other workplace awards, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards are based on the input of employees who voluntarily provide anonymous feedback on Glassdoor by completing a company review about their job, work environment and employer over the past year.
The Best Places to Work list comes at a time when workers in the UK face significant economic uncertainty. Glassdoor research reveals employee discussion around cost of living and inflation has jumped 297% in the last 12 months, and mentions of ‘recession’ have soared 804% – a ninefold increase*. With hiring set to remain challenging throughout 2023, companies with strong reputations as great places to work stand apart from the competition. It is also easier to attract and retain talent, with Glassdoor research finding satisfied employees are 19% less likely to apply for new roles.
The Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards honours the Best Places to Work across the U.S., Canada, UK, France and Germany. 2023 is the 9th edition of the awards in the UK and the list recognises the best 50 companies with 1,000 or more employees. Winners are ranked based on their overall rating achieved during the past year. (Ratings are based on a 5-point scale: 1.0=very dissatisfied, 3.0=OK, 5.0=very satisfied; actual calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place).
“The past year brought extreme highs and lows for job seekers and employees, but despite an increasingly uncertain job market, Glassdoor data shows there are still companies hyper-focused on creating outstanding employee experiences,”said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor Chief Executive Officer. “It’s encouraging to see companies doubling down on employee mental health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, competitive benefits and flexible work environments as we head into 2023. I sincerely congratulate all of the Best Places to Work winners.”
The top ten UK Best Places to Work 2023 are:
- Bain & Company (4.7 rating out of 5)
- ServiceNow (4.7)
- Boston Consulting Group (4.7)
- Equinix (4.7)
- Ocado Technology (4.6)
- Mastercard (4.6)
- Google (4.6)
- Arup (4.6)
- Salesforce (4.6)
- Version 1 (4.6)
FRESH FACES AND MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES MAKE UP THE WINNERS
Glassdoor’s UK Best Places to Work 2023 features winning employers across 13 industries including manufacturing, hospitality, construction, finance, transportation, consulting, advertising and more. Tech companies dominate the list with 21 employers from the sector recognised, including six in the top 10.
For the first time, management consulting company Bain & Company claims the UK’s top spot with a rating of 4.7 out of 5. Employees called out the company’s friendly culture, strong work-life balance and excellent learning opportunities.
A quarter of the employers are newcomers to the UK list. The 13 new companies include Equinix (No. 4, 4.7), Version 1 (No. 10, 4.6), Office for National Statistics (No. 21, 4.6), SUSE (No. 24, 4.6) and Heathrow Airport (No. 46, 4.5). Ten employers absent from the UK’s 2022 list are rejoining in 2023, including Arup (No, 8, 4.6 last on 2020 list), BlackRock (No. 12, 4.6 last on 2021 list), Cromwell Tools (No. 22, 4.6 last on 2021 list) and Expedia Group (No. 47, 4.5 last on 2018 list). Google (No. 7, 4.6) is recognised for the ninth consecutive year and is the only employer to make the UK list every year since launch.
In 2023, only three employers appeared on all five country lists (U.S. large, Canada, UK, France, Germany): Salesforce (No. 9, 4.6) and Microsoft (No. 13, 4.6), SAP (No. 18, 4.6).
EMPLOYEES’ INSIGHTS POWER THE BEST PLACES TO WORK LIST
When employees submit reviews about their employer on Glassdoor, they are asked to share their opinions on some of the best reasons to work for their employer (pros), any downsides (cons) and are encouraged to provide advice to management. In addition, employees are asked to rate how satisfied they are with their employer overall, rate their CEO and key workplace attributes including career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management and work-life balance. Employees are also asked whether they would recommend their employer to a friend and whether they believe their employer’s six-month business outlook is positive, negative or if they have no opinion.
Among the 2.3 million employers reviewed on Glassdoor, the average company rating is 3.7.
Employees’ Choice Award winners for the Best Places to Work 2023 are determined using Glassdoor’s proprietary awards algorithm, and each employer’s rating is determined based on the quantity, quality and consistency of Glassdoor-approved company reviews submitted by UK-based employees between 19 October 2021 and 17 October 2022. During the year-long eligibility period, employers considered for the list must have received at least 30 ratings for each of the nine workplace attributes (overall company rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, diversity and inclusion, senior management, work-life balance, recommend to a friend and six-month business outlook) taken into account as part of the awards algorithm. For reporting simplicity, ratings are displayed to the nearest tenth, though calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place to determine final rank order. Complete awards methodology can be found and downloaded here: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Award/index.htm
FULL LIST OF 2023 WINNERS: All winning employers across this year’s six lists can be found by visiting:
100 Best Places to Work – U.S.
50 Best Small & Medium Companies to Work For – U.S.
25 Best Places to Work – Canada
25 Best Places to Work – France
25 Best Places to Work – Germany
EDITORIAL + EMPLOYEE COMMENTARY:
EDITORIAL: Revealed, Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work 2023 in the UK
EDITORIAL: Job hunt season is on – check out open roles at the UK’s Best Places to Work
ECONOMIC RESEARCH: Glassdoor Workplace Trends 2023
Glassdoor word analysis methodology: *The Glassdoor Economic Research team calculated the year-over-year change in discussion around ‘inflation/cost of living’ between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021 and 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022 by analysing more than 800,000 reviews from UK-based employees on Glassdoor. The year-over-year change in discussion around ‘recession/downturn’ was calculated by analysing more than 260,000 posts and comments left by UK employees on Fishbowl between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021 and 1 November 2021 and 31 October 2022
About Glassdoor
Glassdoor is revolutionising how people everywhere find jobs and companies they love by providing deeper workplace transparency. Professionals turn to Glassdoor to research ratings, reviews, salaries and more at millions of employers, and to Fishbowl by Glassdoor to engage in candid workplace conversations. Companies use Glassdoor to post jobs and attract talent through employer branding and employee insights products. Glassdoor is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, a leading global technology company, and a part of its fast-growing HR Technology business unit. For more information, visit www.glassdoor.co.uk.
