Hilton and realestate.co.nz are the Best Workplaces™ in New Zealand for 2026, taking first place in the Medium & Large and Small categories. Both held the same crown in 2025, and keeping a title decided by your own employees for two years running takes a great deal more than a good Christmas party.
Key insights
- Hilton and realestate.co.nz top the Best Workplaces in New Zealand list for a second straight year.
- The Medium & Large category doubled from five organisations in 2025 to 10 in 2026.
- Hotels hold three of the top six Medium & Large places, led by Hilton.
Who topped the 2026 Best Workplaces in New Zealand list?
Hilton, Specsavers and Salesforce lead the Medium & Large category for organisations with 100 or more employees. In the Small category, for organisations with 30 to 99 employees, realestate.co.nz leads from Roche Products (New Zealand) and SLEEQ.
100+ employees
Medium & Large category top three
- Hilton
- Specsavers
- Salesforce
30 to 99 employees
Small category top three
- realestate.co.nz
- Roche Products (New Zealand) Limited
- SLEEQ Limited
Small saw more movement. Roche climbed from 10th place in 2025 to second, the biggest jump by any returning organisation. SLEEQ arrived on the list for the first time and went straight to third.
See all 25 Best Workplaces in New Zealand
Which industries have the most Best Workplaces in New Zealand?
Technology is the largest group on the 2026 list by our count, with eight of the 25 Best Workplaces, seven of them in the Small category.
| Industry | Medium & Large | Small |
|---|---|---|
| Technology and digital | Salesforce | realestate.co.nz, SLEEQ Limited, Cisco, Lancom Technology, Mantel, Grapevine Communications Limited, Black Box Technologies New Zealand Limited |
| Hospitality and travel | Hilton, Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Flight Centre (NZ) Ltd | Nelson Airport |
| Health and pharmaceuticals | Specsavers | Roche Products (New Zealand) Limited, Viatris |
| Professional and financial services | Nexia New Zealand, Rothbury Group Limited | Robert Half, First Title |
| Logistics, retail and industrial | DHL, Freedom Furniture New Zealand Limited | Carus Group Limited, Brother International (NZ) Limited, CNH Industrial |
A pleasing symmetry: SLEEQ, a Salesforce partner, ranks third in Small, matching Salesforce’s third place in Medium & Large.
The spread goes well beyond laptops and lanyards. Carus Group, a commercial painting company, shares the list with Cisco. So does Grapevine Communications, which installs and maintains data cabling for clients including Auckland Airport.
Hotels hold three of the top six Medium & Large places, with Hilton first, Marriott International fourth and IHG Hotels & Resorts sixth. Add Flight Centre at eighth and Nelson Airport in the Small category, and five of the 25 Best Workplaces earn their living from people on the move.
That should give heart to anyone running a frontline workforce. In hospitality, the product is how a staff member treats a guest, and that is shaped by how the staff member was treated before the shift began. A flat, disengaged front desk tends to show up in guest feedback.
Why are global brands like Cisco and Roche in the Small category?
Size categories reflect the number of people an organisation employs in New Zealand, so global companies with local teams of 30 to 99 people compete in Small.
That puts Cisco, Roche, Robert Half, Viatris, Brother and CNH Industrial alongside homegrown firms such as Carus Group. Each runs a compact New Zealand operation inside a vast global business, where a local team could easily start to feel like a line item on a head office spreadsheet.
For people managers, the lesson travels. Employees experience culture through the person they report to on a wet Tuesday afternoon. A global values statement comes to life when a local leader acts on it.
What separates the Best Workplaces from typical workplaces in New Zealand?
The clearest gap is loyalty, with 83.6% of employees at the Best Workplaces wanting to work there for a long time against 56.3% at typical workplaces, according to Great Place To Work’s 2026 New Zealand Workplace Culture Report, which surveyed employees all over the country.
Want to work there for a long time
Best Workplaces in New Zealand
Typical workplaces
Employees at the Best Workplaces are 27.3 percentage points more likely to want to stay long term. 83.6% minus 56.3%.
The same report found 86.4% of employees at the Best Workplaces would strongly endorse their employer to friends and family, compared with 54.1% at typical workplaces.
Would strongly endorse their employer
Best Workplaces in New Zealand
Typical workplaces
Employees at the Best Workplaces are 32.3 percentage points more likely to recommend their employer. 86.4% minus 54.1%.
Pride sits underneath both numbers. In an analysis of 140,251 employee responses from 682 organisations, Great Place To Work found pride accounted for 25.8% of what drives people to stay.
What can other organisations learn from the 2026 list?
The 2026 list shows trust can be built at almost any size and in almost any industry, from hotel floors to painting crews.
Ask your people every year
Repeat winners keep putting their culture in front of their people. Annual feedback turns one good result into a habit leaders can track.
Back your frontline managers
In shift-based teams, the manager on duty sets the tone. Give them the time and authority to fix small problems before they turn into resignations.
Treat local teams as the main event
A New Zealand team of 40 inside a global business needs recognition and rituals of its own, led by people who know everyone by name.
Give people something to be proud of
Pride accounts for more than a quarter of what keeps people, so share client praise and show your team the difference their work makes.
Congratulations again to all 25 organisations on the 2026 list. Everyone else has a year to catch up.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the best workplace in New Zealand in 2026?
Hilton ranked first among Medium & Large organisations on the 2026 Best Workplaces in New Zealand list, and realestate.co.nz ranked first in the Small category. Both organisations also topped their categories in 2025, a back-to-back result. Specsavers and Salesforce kept second and third place in Medium & Large, while Roche Products (New Zealand) climbed to second in Small. Rankings are based on confidential feedback from employees themselves through the Trust Index Survey.
How do companies get on the Best Workplaces in New Zealand list?
Eligible organisations have at least 10 employees in New Zealand and must first earn Great Place To Work Certification. Their people complete the confidential Trust Index Survey, sharing how they experience leadership, fairness, pride and camaraderie at work. The strongest results earn a place on the Best Workplaces in New Zealand list, ranked within size categories so small teams compete with organisations of a similar scale. Every year starts fresh, so past winners must earn their spot again.
How many companies made the Best Workplaces in New Zealand 2026 list?
Twenty-five organisations made the 2026 Best Workplaces in New Zealand list. Ten appear in the Medium & Large category for organisations with 100 or more employees, double the five recognised in 2025. Fifteen appear in the Small category for organisations with 30 to 99 employees. Nine of those Small winners are new to the list this year, alongside five new names in Medium & Large, including Marriott International and IHG Hotels & Resorts.
What do the Best Workplaces in New Zealand have in common?
The Best Workplaces in New Zealand earn consistently high trust across their workforce. According to the 2026 New Zealand Workplace Culture Report, 83.6% of employees at these organisations want to stay for a long time, compared with 56.3% at typical workplaces. Pride is a major driver, accounting for 25.8% of what keeps people in their jobs, so employees who talk proudly about their workplace tend to stay. Industries range widely, from hotels and technology to painting and airports.
