South Africa’s best employers – with one making the top 20 in the world

10 South African companies have made Forbes’s list of the World’s Best Employers, with Standard Bank cracking the global top 20.

Forbes said that workers worldwide face great uncertainty about their place in the market, given geopolitical conflict, the cost-of-living crisis, the evolution of AI in the workplace, and the push to make supply chains sustainable and impact jobs.

“To stay competitive, workers need to be vigilant about upskilling and adapting to shifting job responsibilities,” said Forbes.

“For some lucky employees, however, opportunities to advance their skill sets, try new tools, and grow with their jobs are baked into their company’s offerings.”

The group said that these employees often stay longer in their jobs and remain more content and engaged at work.

Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista and surveyed over 300,000 employees in over 50 countries who work for multinational corporate groups that employ over 1,000 workers.

Respondents were questioned on whether they would recommend their company to family or friends and rate it based on criteria such as salary, talent development, and remote work options.

Participants could also rate companies they knew through their industry insights and via friends and family who worked there.

Survey responses were then incorporated with data from the past three years, with a heavier weight placed on the more recent data and evaluations from current employees.

Of the 850 companies on the rankings, 10 South African companies were cut.

Standard Bank was named the 18th best employer in the world.

“It’s phenomenal to be recognised as one of the World’s Best Employers for the second year in a row,’ said Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala.

“In fact, we’ve greatly improved our standing given that we were ranked 130th in 2023.”

South Africa’s largest bank by assets under management was clear of the second-best-ranked South African company, Nedbank, which came in at 194th overall in the latest ranking.

Telcos giant MTN came third in South Africa and 267th overall worldwide, while energy giant Sasol was named the 314th best employer in the world.

FirstRand, the owner of FNB and RMB, came fifth in South Africa and 342nd overall.

Adcorp (385) and Mediclinic (418) were the sixth- and seventh-best employers in South Africa, respectively.

The South African top 10 includes chemical giant AECI (477), paper mill company SAPPI (483), and RMB Holdings, now RMH (727).

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