Key insights
- Six Southeast Asian markets generated 121 winning placements across 2026 Best Workplaces in Asia lists.
- Of those 121 placements, 101 came from large employers with 500 or more staff in Asia.
- Thirty-seven of the 200 ranked companies won in these six markets and in no other Asian market.
Great Place To Work® recognised 200 companies on its 2026 Best Workplaces in Asia™ lists, drawn from more than 3.8 million confidential employee responses representing the experiences of more than 8.9 million employees across 19 markets.
Sixty-nine of those 200 companies won in at least one of the six Southeast Asian markets covered here. That group includes nine of the ten highest-ranked large employers in Asia. Hilton, Cisco and DHL were recognised in all six markets, and Marriott International in five, missing only Thailand.
Sitting alongside the hotel groups, logistics firms and regional technology hubs are employers with no previous rank on the Asia list: Bank of the Philippine Islands, Indonesia’s state electricity utility PT PLN (Persero), Vietnamese jewelery retailer PNJ Group, Thai conglomerate Central Group and Vietnamese agribusiness GREENFEED.
How the counting works
A winning placement means one company recognised in one market. A company recognised in several markets produces several placements, which is why 200 ranked companies generate more than 200 placements across Asia.
The 200 companies split into two lists of 100: large, meaning 500 or more employees in Asia, and small and medium, meaning 50 to 499. The six markets covered here are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
How did Southeast Asia perform on the 2026 Best Workplaces in Asia list?
Singapore led the region with 25 winning placements, ahead of Vietnam on 24, the Philippines on 20, Indonesia on 19, Thailand on 18 and Malaysia on 15. Large employers hold 101 of those 121 placements, so 83% of the region’s result comes from organisations with 500 or more staff in Asia.
| Market | Placements | Large | Small and medium | Largest industry group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 25 | 20 | 5 | Information technology (6) |
| Vietnam | 24 | 20 | 4 | Health care and manufacturing (4 each) |
| Philippines | 20 | 14 | 6 | Information technology (8) |
| Indonesia | 19 | 16 | 3 | Hospitality (3) |
| Thailand | 18 | 17 | 1 | Manufacturing and production (4) |
| Malaysia | 15 | 14 | 1 | Information technology (5) |
Counted the same way, market by market, Singapore’s 25 placements and Vietnam’s 24 sit behind the UAE on 42, India on 40, Greater China on 39 and Japan on 34, and ahead of Saudi Arabia on 22, South Korea on 21 and every other Asian market. Great Place To Work does not publish a country-by-country ranking, so these positions are calculated from the list file rather than taken from an official table.
What do the industry mixes say about each market’s growth engine?
The list classifies employers by industry. It does not measure exports, investment or national output, so the industry mix shows where high-trust employment practices are visible rather than where economic value is created. Read with that limit in mind, the patterns are still worth attention.
The Philippines concentrates in technology and business services. Eight of its 20 placements are information technology, the highest IT count among the six markets, against six in Singapore, five in Malaysia, three in Vietnam, two in Indonesia and one in Thailand. The Philippine IT-BPM sector ended 2025 with export revenues above US$40 billion and a workforce of about 1.9 million, accounting for more than 8% of national GDP, according to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines. Carelon Global Solutions Philippines and Concentrix were new entrants to the large list at 53rd and 58th.
Malaysia pairs advanced manufacturing with technology and financial services. Micron Technology rose from 19th to 7th, recording placements in Malaysia and Singapore as well as Japan. Malaysia’s electrical and electronics exports reached RM711 billion in 2025, up from RM601 billion in 2024, and on 28 August 2026 Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association president Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai raised his 2026 forecast to more than RM900 billion, or about US$223 billion, having expected above RM800 billion in June.
Singapore’s profile is the most diversified of the large-employer markets. Information technology leads on six placements and manufacturing follows on four, with life sciences, hospitality, transport, health care and real estate all represented. Most of its 25 placements belong to the regional arms of global firms, with JustCo, Pontiac Land Group, TC Acoustic and Home Nursing Foundation among the locally headquartered exceptions.
Thailand clusters in three sectors. Manufacturing and production accounts for four placements, hospitality and biotechnology and pharmaceuticals for three each, together making up 10 of Thailand’s 18. Central Group entered the large list at 55th.
Indonesia’s strongest group is hospitality, on three placements, with domestic infrastructure close behind. PT PLN (Persero) at 97th and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison at 80th both appear with no 2025 rank recorded, while PT URC Indonesia gained nine places to 2nd on the small and medium list and Eterna Indonesia gained 48 places to 46th.
How does this compare with India, Japan and Greater China?
Compared market by market, the four largest single-market results in Asia are the UAE, India, Greater China and Japan, and what separates them is the shape of each result rather than its size. India and Greater China are large-employer markets. Japan’s result is close to an even split between large and small employers. The six Southeast Asian markets between them produced 121 placements, which is a regional total and not a like-for-like comparison with any single country.
| Market | Placements | Share from large employers | Largest industry group |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAE | 42 | 48% | Hospitality (8) |
| India | 40 | 85% | Financial services and insurance (10) |
| Greater China | 39 | 79% | Information technology (8) |
| Japan | 34 | 53% | Information technology (11) |
| Singapore | 25 | 80% | Information technology (6) |
| Vietnam | 24 | 83% | Health care and manufacturing (4 each) |
Japan has 18 of its 34 placements in the large category and 16 in small and medium, a spread across many smaller domestic employers. India draws 34 of its 40 from large employers, led by financial services and insurance on 10 placements. Southeast Asia’s 83% large-employer share puts it closer to India and Greater China than to Japan, which means the region’s recognition is coming from organisations moving thousands of people through fast-growing operations.
Which companies climbed furthest in Southeast Asia?
Schneider Electric posted the largest climb of any company with a Southeast Asian placement, rising 62 places from 78th to 16th. Eterna Indonesia gained 48 places on the small and medium list, Capital One gained 39 with the Philippines as its only winning market, and Kollab gained 20 in the Philippines.
+62
Schneider Electric, No. 78 to No. 16
Winning markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
+48
Eterna Indonesia, No. 94 to No. 46
Small and medium list. Winning market: Indonesia.
+39
Capital One, No. 85 to No. 46
Large list. Winning market: the Philippines.
+20
Kollab, No. 68 to No. 48
Small and medium list. Winning market: the Philippines.
TP gained 16 places to 8th across Greater China, Indonesia, South Korea, the UAE and Vietnam, and Micron Technology gained 12 to 7th across Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Movement runs both ways. American Express fell 55 places to 88th with the Philippines as its only winning market, CrowdStrike fell 53 to 67th across India, Japan and Singapore, Syngenta fell 43 to 96th in Indonesia and Servier fell 38 to 94th in Vietnam. The list file gives a reason for only eight of the 200 rank changes, and competition within national lists is the most common one recorded.
What should employers across the region take from this?
The pool is growing while the number of places stays fixed. Employee responses behind the Asia ranking rose from more than 3.2 million in 2025 to more than 3.8 million in 2026, an increase of almost 19%, and the list still carries 200 ranked positions. Great Place To Work also notes that more organisations are competing across countries for regional recognition.
The second read is about who is competing. Thirty-seven companies on the 2026 list won in these six markets and nowhere else in Asia, and 26 of them carry no 2025 rank in the file. Employers in Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Bangkok are being measured on the same instrument as Hilton and Cisco, and placing.
After decades of being described as emerging, Southeast Asia is better described in 2026 as a force to be reckoned with. Bank of the Philippine Islands, founded in 1851 and Southeast Asia’s oldest bank, enters the list at 64th. Indonesia’s state electricity utility also appears for the first time. Their arrival points to a broader shift that the region’s leading domestic employers are building workplace cultures that stand up alongside Asia’s best-known global brands.
