World's Best Companies of 2024

How TIME and Statista Determined the World's Best Companies of 2024

There was a moment, in the early days of the pandemic, when employers cared deeply about keeping workers happy. That moment passed for many companies, once quarantine ebbed and pressures from investors made them refocus on their bottom lines. But companies like Apple, Microsoft, and BMW still appear to be investing in their workers’ happiness, a trait that has put them at the top of the list of a new statistical ranking of 1,000 of the World’s Best Companies by Statista and TIME. The ranking is based on a formula of employee-satisfaction surveys; revenue growth; and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data.

Microsoft, for instance, which came in third in the rankings, was the second highest-rated company in employee satisfaction, after Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Microsoft has said it tries to ensure that employees are thriving, which it defines as “energized and empowered to do meaningful work,” an approach that seems to be working both at keeping employees happy and at powering revenue. The company made $88 billion in its latest fiscal year, up 22% from the prior year, and ranked highly in revenue growth.

Apple also earned strong marks from employees, coming in fourth in employee satisfaction, but was propelled to the top of the rankings by its ESG rating, which was first out of all the companies. The tech giant has committed to being carbon neutral by 2030 and is making more products with recycled materials; in early 2024, it also became the first big tech company to achieve gender equality on its board of directors, now composed of four men and four women. 

No one sector dominated. Though tech companies accounted for six of the top 20 positions and four of the top 10, a German automaker, BMW Group, ranked fourth. And Accenture, the consulting firm based in Dublin, finished second overall by scoring well in all three categories. Its CEO, Julie Sweet, was on the TIME100 list for 2024. Under her, Accenture “had a deeply positive societal impact, using technology to solve pressing issues,” Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, wrote about Sweet.

Many of the top companies have made similar positive societal impacts while making money and keeping their employees happy at the same time. It’s not necessarily something that their investors are clamoring for; that they do it anyway is what sets them apart. —Alana Semuels