- * Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For invited over 1.3 million employees to have their say.
- * More than 550,000 verified employee survey responses came back, across ten different countries
- * While DHL took the #1 position, regional organisations also feature prominently, signalling the region’s shift towards building competitive workplaces.
Over the past twenty-seven years, Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For lists in North America and Europe have become an iconic benchmark for great workplaces. The launch of the first-ever Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For Southeast Asia 2025, is further proof of a region coming into its own. Moving beyond its reputation as a pure growth market, Southeast Asia is now being recognised for its sophisticated corporate cultures.
Evelyn Kwek, Managing Director of Great Place To Work ASEAN and ANZ, said, “For decades, the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For List has set the gold standard across the US and Europe for what great workplaces can look like. Now Southeast Asia has earned its place within that international standard of excellence.”
This expansion is strategically timed, with ASEAN economies projected to grow by around 4.3 percent in both 2025 and 2026, outpacing global growth forecasts of about 3.1 percent. As a pivotal hub in global supply‑chain reconfiguration, the region is continuing to attract strong foreign direct investment, organisational resilience and top-talent attraction.
Best Practices From the Top Three Best Companies
For Australian and New Zealand businesses competing for top talent, or looking to expand into the region, the list offers a crucial look at best practice in action. The list serves as a powerful signal to global capital looking for stable, high-performance local partners.
DHL, which secured the coveted number one position, shows a rigorous commitment to employee feedback for continuous improvement. Zixian Er, speaking on behalf of DHL Supply Chain, said, “At DHL, our people culture is at the heart of everything we do. Every day, we strive to be a great place to work where employee feedback guides our decisions and drives continuous improvement.”
“We view success in the form of continuous development of our people. At DHL, the focus is on helping our colleagues to learn, adapt and grow so they can stay ahead in a fast-changing environment,” Er explained.
Hilton, which took the number two spot, credits a purpose-driven culture that looks after people’s well-being and recognises their impact. “At Hilton, our founding purpose is very real for our teams here. It shows up in our holistic Thrive program that provides resources that support team members’ physical, mental, and financial wellbeing, underpins this by ensuring that individuals can bring their whole selves to work,” said Mary Hogg, Senior Director for HR, Southeast Asia.
Singapore’s Capella Group, which came in at number three on the list of one hundred, demonstrates how to anchor a luxury service brand to local empowerment. This involves a deep focus on shared values and local expression.
Richmond Kok, Senior Director, Human Resources said of this discipline, “We operationalise our organisational culture through daily rituals that reinforce a shared identity across borders. Every property begins the day by reciting the same Capella Culture and Service Philosophy standard (the Patina Mantra) connecting colleagues from Singapore to Japan under one set of values and creating a global rhythm of purpose and belonging.”
Kok also stresses the high return on investing in autonomy: “We empower our teams through trust. When our colleagues feel trusted, they show up with creativity, ownership and a desire to deliver excellence that is both authentic and heartfelt. Colleagues are trusted to resolve guest issues with resources and guidance, contributing to consistently high online guest reputation scores and the World’s Best Hotel in 2024.”
Kok credited this systemic control combined with radical local empowerment with being the engine of sustained performance.
A New Standard for Regional Excellence
The list is dominated not just by massive global players, but by a significant number of ASEAN-headquartered organizations, showcasing the region’s growing sophistication. Vietnam’s ten recognized companies, alongside a strong turnout from the Philippines and Singapore, cement the region’s capability to cultivate compassionate and strategic workplaces in Southeast Asia.
“This list reflects a diverse and dynamic region that is coming into its own by recognizing organizations that have intentionally built environments where people feel trusted and supported to do their best work. The many years of research, and millions of employee voices, collected in our data, have shown that when that trust is strong, businesses grow in ways that lift people, communities, and entire economies,” said Evelyn Kwek.
READ THE FULL FORTUNE 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR™SOUTHEAST ASIA LIST
FAQs about the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ Southeast Asia
How do companies qualify for the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ Southeast Asia list?
To qualify, organisations must first earn Great Place To Work Certification™, employ at least 200 people, and run an employee survey that meets strict distribution and response‑rate standards between late 2024 and September 2025. Rankings are then determined primarily by confidential employee responses to the Great Place To Work Trust Index™ Survey, with company‑provided information used only to confirm eligibility and context.
What does the Trust Index™ Survey measure?
The Trust Index™ Survey asks employees about their day‑to‑day experience of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie at work, forming the backbone of Great Place To Work’s methodology worldwide. Decades of research from more than 100 million survey responses show that high scores on these trust dimensions correlate with stronger business performance, including higher growth, innovation and retention.
Why is Great Place To Work® considered the global authority on workplace culture?
Great Place To Work has spent over 30 years researching what makes a great workplace, using its Trust Model™ and Trust Index™ Survey to analyse millions of employee voices in more than 100 countries. Governments, business media and leading employers rely on this data to benchmark culture, qualify for Great Place To Work Certification™, and gain recognition on national and regional Best Workplaces™ Lists.
Do companies on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For™ Southeast Asia list perform better than their peers?
30 years of data and research from Great Place To Work® shows that organisations with high‑trust cultures consistently outperform peers on key metrics such as revenue growth, innovation, customer satisfaction and employee retention.
