When it comes to a happy working life, picking the right employer is key. While you may be more focused on things like your job title and location, who you work for can affect everything from your take-home pay to your job satisfaction and chances for career progression.
To help workers navigate Germany's complex jobs market, a new Statista survey carried out on behalf of Stern magazine aimed to find the country's most beloved employers.
For the study, 34,000 workers were asked to rate their bosses on a variety of factors and say whether they'd recommend their place of work to others.
"By highlighting these companies, this ranking provides valuable insights for job seekers and employers alike, showcasing Germany's most attractive workplaces in the eyes of their employees," said Stern in an article announcing the study.
Surprisingly, the overall winner wasn't a tech giant or a behemoth from Germany's well-established auto-industry: instead, the drug store DM came top in the rankings.
READ ALSO: The jobs and skills growing in demand across Germany
The large retailer, which employs over 51,000 workers, scored a total of 88 points out of 100, placing it head and shoulders above the median score of 66.58.
Though DM did well on several metrics, the standout factor in its popularity was its commitment to sustainability - or Nachhaltigkeit in German.
Who else made it into the top 10?
Though the most highly ranked employer may come as a surprise, the top 10 overall also featured car manufacturers, as well as one aerospace company, a global tech brand, a confectioner and a major sports label - among others.
This year, Adidas lost its place as the top employer in the rankings but came in at second place. The sports clothing giant scored 87.16 points in the rankings, with employees mentioning its brand image and the growth of the company as major draws for working there.
Google Germany climbed up two spots this year into third place, scoring high points above all for career perspectives and development.
Meanwhile, auto-industry giants BMW, Porsche and Audi came fourth, fifth and six in the rankings respectively.
The biggest leap in the rankings this year was achieved by tea company Teekanne, which jumped an astounding 50 places into seventh place.
The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) held its spot in eighth place, followed by pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim in ninth place, and the German subsidiary of Swiss confectionary company Lindt & Sprüngli in tenth place.
Here are the top 25 German employers according to the survey, and their scores:
1. DM: 88
2. Adidas: 87.16
3. Google Germany: 85.79
4. BMW: 85.46
5. Porsche: 84.58
6. Audi: 83.34
7. Teekanne: 83.05
8. German Aerospace Centre (DLR): 82.69
9. Boehringer Ingelheim: 82.54
10. Lindt & Sprüngli Deutschland: 82.31
11. Deutsche Bundesbank: 82.18
12. Melitta: 81.59
13. Mercedez Benz: 81.58
14. Techniker Krankenkasse: 81.36
15. Airbus: 81.36
16. Biontech: 80.91
17. Bionorica: 80.90
18. Coca-Cola: 80.55
19. Frosta: 80.45
20. Kärcher: 80.20
21. Dr. Oetker: 80.19
22. Infineon: 80.15
23. Roche: 79.96
24. Haribo: 79.76
25. Puma: 79.71
The full rankings can be found on the Stern magazine website (behind a paywall).
Which companies came top in different industries?
Beyond the overall rankings, Stern also looked at the the most popular employers in a range of different industries, from IT to healthcare and hospitality.
In addition, it sought to find the best employer for people starting out in their careers, as well as the best employer for women.
READ ALSO: Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?
"With our large-scale survey in collaboration with Stern magazine, we're helping workers orient themselves," explained Hubertus Bitting, project leader at Statista. "This time we also have a specific focus on women, who are particularly sought after in times of skilled labour shortages."
As well as emerging as the top employer overall, DM claimed top spot as the best retailer to work for, followed closely by competitor Rossmann, .
It also emerged as the top employer for women, followed by Google Germany, Adidas, the Deutsche Bundesbank and electronics company Adtran.
In IT and telecommunications, Microsoft Germany landed in top place, with Datev, Atruvia, Bridging-IT and Adtran comprising the top five.
In the electronics industry, cleaning and vacuuming device manufacturer Kärcher came in top place, followed by Infineon, Wago, Zeiss and Busch-Jaeger.
In the automobile industry, the top five employers were BMW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Coroplast. Volkswagen, which has been facing severe economic headwinds and potential job cuts recently, still managed to make into seventh place.
In hospitality and tourism, Munich's high-end Hotel Bayerischer Hof came in first place, followed by Tui, Fit X, Enterprise Rent a Car and Aida Cruises.
In healthcare, meanwhile, the German Cancer Research Centre was the top employer, while Klinikum Niederlausitz, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Universitätsklinikum Münster and Klinikum Bielefeld followed next in the rankings.
Finally, Carglass emerged as the top pick for career entrants, followed by DM, Adidas, Google Germany, and Ikea.
READ ALSO: The jobs where employees earn the most (and least) in Germany
How was the research carried out?
The rankings for Germany’s 50 favourite employers were developed by market research institute Statista.
It engaged over 34,000 employees via online panels, asking respondents to rate their own companies as well as other firms in their industry, culminating in over one million individual assessments.
The questionnaire included over 50 topics about each of the companies, including factors like brand image and future job prospects. However, the key metric was the employees' willingness to recommend their employer - a metric Statista says is the "gold standard for market researchers".
Before the survey began, the research firm compiled a list of over 2,600 large employers and categorised them into 24 industries. To qualify for the rankings, each employer needed at least 100 evaluations.
According to Stern, around 1,300 companies met the criteria, and the 650 top rated made it into the rankings.
Only companies with at least 500 employees in Germany were eligible for evaluation.
Comments