The latest Top Companies ranking by career and social media platform LinkedIn has revealed the best employers in Switzerland in 2024. With the shortage of workers continuing unabated across the alpine nation, the report found that Swiss pharmaceutical, healthcare and finance companies offer the most rewarding jobs.

Swiss and international companies ranked by LinkedIn 

To create the study, the social media firm analysed hundreds of international companies and domestic businesses in Switzerland by the quality of jobs and career development they provide. The study noted that the job market remains tense in 2024: as Swiss firms continue to tackle employment shortages, workers face the looming opportunity (or threat, depending on your perspective) that innovations like artificial intelligence provide.

To rank each company, LinkedIn analysed all firms active on its platform that have more than 500 workers and 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 - so Procter & Gamble (who own Gillette, Oral-B and Pantene) is counted as one company instead of multiple.

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 education level of employees

This year, the ranking put particular emphasis on companies that invest in their employees, “Be it further training measures to expand AI knowledge or flexible working models. This means that these companies not only attract top talent but are also able to retain them - a crucial factor in our constantly changing world of work.”

Novartis rated the best employer in Switzerland

This year, local pharmaceutical company Novartis was rated as the best employer in Switzerland. The staple of Basel was said to provide the best career and growth opportunities for both expats and domestic Swiss workers.

In an interesting twist given the events of 2023 - which saw the company’s merger with Credit Suisse - UBS was also rated highly, with the bank ranked as the second best place to work in the alpine nation. They were also rated as the best place to work in Zurich and Bern.

Best firms to work for in Switzerland mainly in medicine

Medicine, biotech and healthcare providers and manufacturers dominated the higher echelons in Switzerland, with US firm Procter & Gamble taking third, Roche ranking fourth and Medtronic taking fifth. LinkedIn concluded that Switzerland offers “remarkable career opportunities” in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Interestingly, 2023 front-runner Bristol Myers Squibb fell to eighth in the latest ranking, while formerly second-placed Swiss Federal Railways failed to be mentioned at all.

10 best employers in Switzerland in 2024

In all, these are the top 10 employers in Switzerland for 2024, according to LinkedIn:

1. Novartis, pharmaceuticals
2. UBS, banking and finance
3. Procter & Gamble, manufacturing
4. Roche, pharmaceuticals
5. Medtronic, medical equipment
6. Nestlé, food and beverages
7. JTI (Japan Tobacco International), tobacco
8. Bristol Myers Squibb, pharmaceuticals
9. Haleon, consumer services
10. Philip Morris International, tobacco

For more information, and to see which other firms made the top 25, check out the official website.

Thumb image credit: DCStockPhotography / Shutterstock.com