Best workplaces 2026

The investigation

Best workplaces 2026, how well-being and trust increase turnover and productivity

Hilton, Cisco, MetLife, Biogen and Auditel were awarded the gold medals in yesterday's Great Place to Work Awards. In the 75 companies of the ranking, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, average revenue growth of 20% compared to the previous year and a high Trust Index

by Cristina Casadei

20 March 2026

6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

6' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Having people who feel good at work and trust their employer improves productivity and turnover. This correlation is increasingly strong, as shown by the analysis of the ranking of Best workplaces Italia in 2026, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. The Italian best workplaces recorded an average revenue growth, compared to the previous year, of +20%, a figure that when compared to the 1% increase in turnover in the Italian organisations belonging to industry and services included in the ISTAT index shows the importance, for the development of the company's business, of having involved and satisfied employees.

The podium

Among the best workplaces in Italia in 2026, according to the Great place to work ranking, in the category of companies with more than 1,000 employees, on the podium is Hilton (hotel), followed by Abbvie (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals) and Tp (telecommunications). In the category of organisations with between 500 and 999 employees in first place is Cisco (information technology), ahead of Bending Spoons (information technology) and ConTe.it (insurance). In the category between 150 and 499 employees MetLife (financial services & insurance) wins, ahead of Bristol-Myers Squibb (biopharmaceutical) and Jet Hr (Hr Tech). On the podium in the category between 50 and 149 employees at the top is Biogen (biotechnology), followed by Galileo Life (healthcare) and Reverse Spa (human resources). In the category between 10 and 49 employees, first place is taken by Auditel (media) ahead of Trek Bicycle (production) and ACSoftware (IT).

The actions implemented

Taking the top step on the podium, David Kelly, senior vice president, Continental Europe at Hilton, explains that "the dedication and professionalism of our team members throughout Italia are fundamental to our success and reflect a working environment founded on trust, transparency and a shared commitment to excellence". This is complemented by "challenging career paths and benefits such as Go Hilton, which offer team members and their loved ones discounted rates to stay in our hotels around the world" and exchange programmes "among team members, which have already enabled more than 1,000 people to gain work experience in other hotels".

To explain the correlation between wellbeing and business, Caterina Barusi, People & communities country lead at Cisco - for 25 years in the rankings - says that 'Cisco's corporate culture is really based on teamwork and listening, in an environment where collaboration and flexibility are the rule, not the exception. And work is organised by objectives. With the support of appropriate technologies, this approach allows individual trust and responsibility to be cultivated, reinforcing the fundamental value of teamwork every day'.

From MetLife they explain that the objective of their human resources policies is 'to promote an inclusive environment, based on shared values, responsibility and respect for diversity. The company is strongly purpose-driven, investing in talent development and development paths based on trust and autonomy. A fair remuneration approach, together with an articulated welfare system and flexibility tools, concretely supports work-life balance, with attention to physical and mental health'. Giuseppe Banfi, CEO of Biogen Italia, cites their 'B Positive' cultural model, which promotes a happiness-oriented organisation: a positive and inclusive work environment where well-being, transparency and trust enhance our people's sense of belonging and foster productivity, determining the success of our organisation. To attract and develop talent we work on several aspects: our strong corporate culture based on shared values, continuous and numerous professional development paths, genuine attention to people by offering an environment where each one can feel listened to and valued'.

Paolo Lugiato, Director General of Auditel, states that 'the quality of data is inseparable from the quality of the people who produce it. This is why we invest heavily in the growth of skills, organisational well-being and the creation of a working environment that fosters responsibility, collaboration and innovation'.

In a phase of strong focus by all on the rising cost of living, defending and, even more, improving people's purchasing power is a central issue. It is therefore natural that in all organisations there is a strong focus on a fair wage policy, which recognises achievements and is based on the principle of equity.

The performance of the companies in the ranking

The CEO of Great place to work Italia, Alessandro Zollo, explains that "this year, even more than in the past, we have found that Great place to work certified companies, and even more so those in the ranking, register superior economic performance and a significantly higher market value: about three times the capitalisation of the S&P 500". An analysis conducted by Cribis on the panel of certified companies "also confirms that where listening to people and trusting in their work are concrete practices, greater financial solidity is observed, across sectors and company sizes," continues Zollo. Not only that. The CEO of Gptw also points out that "higher levels of sustainability, a more marked propensity for innovation and greater maturity in digital communication are emerging. This is what is internationally known as the 'great place to work effect'.

The analysis

From the data of the Best Workplaces Italia 2026 ranking, prepared by Great place to Work Italia, listening to the opinion expressed by more than 210 thousand employees of 415 Italian organisations, divided into 5 categories based on the number of employees, equally divided between men and women and with a presence of all generations, it seems that the high level of trust of employees is a central factor in the 75 best workplaces in Italia. This year's analysis records an average Trust Index, the indicator of an organisation's climate of trust, of 85%. This figure is up 1% from 2025 when it was 84%. If we take the average figure for companies that are certified but did not enter the ranking, which is 75%, we discover a gap of 10 percentage points. An even higher gap when the comparison is extended with the average Trust index in Italy, which stands at 44%.

The president of Great Place to Work Italia, Beniamino Bedusa says that the ranking "represents a valuable opportunity to stop for a moment and look back at the journey we have made. In these 25 years we have listened to almost two million people, in over five thousand organisations, as the labour market changed profoundly before our eyes, going through pandemics, digital revolutions and economic crises. Today, as then, our applause goes to the companies that choose to embark on a path of improvement, basing their actions on the data that emerged from actively listening to their people. This ranking and the resulting awards are dedicated first and foremost to them".

The sectors

going into more detail, in the analysis of the ranking of the 75 best Italian workplaces to work for in 2026, it turns out that one in 4 organisations (25.3%) belongs to the IT sector, followed by biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (14.67%), financial services and insurance (12%), manufacturing and production (10.67%), professional services (9.33%), healthcare (5.33%), retail, telecommunications and hotels (4%), advertising, marketing and media (2.67%) and agriculture, construction, transport, education and training (1.33%). In terms of territorial distribution, on the other hand, more than 7 out of 10 companies (72%) are based in Lombardy (49.3%) and Lazio (22.67%) and a total of 11 Italian regions are represented in the ranking. Valle D'Aosta, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Umbria, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and Sardinia, on the other hand, do not have 'best workplaces' in their territory.

The comparison

The 75 best Italian workplaces, in comparison with 2025, show increasing indicators in areas such as meritocracy (73%, +2%) and special events (90%, +2%) while aspects such as empowerment, benefits and flexibility are down 1%. The elements that most differentiate the best companies from the certified ones concern communication, care, involvement, welcome and support. An analysis of the comments made by the employees of the best workplaces shows that it is the help and support (21%), the atmosphere (13%) and the collaboration (12%) that make the working environment special, while elements such as work space, working hours and flexibility and work-life balance (8%) are at the bottom of the list. Also according to the employees of best workplaces companies, among the improvements to be made to make the working environment better are pay (19%), internal processes (17%) and communication (16%). Analysing instead the average Trust index, recorded on the basis of the size of the best Italian organisations, it can be seen that there is a gap between the trust index recorded by the small companies in the ranking (94%) compared to the figures of the medium (88%), medium-large (85%), large and super large (79%) companies.