Singapore has emerged as Southeast Asia’s largest contributor to the Best Workplaces in Asia 2026 ranking, with 25 companies recognised across industries including technology, hospitality, biotechnology, manufacturing and real estate.
Published by Great Place To Work, the regional ranking covers 200 companies based on employee survey responses. Singapore’s 25 companies put it fifth overall in Asia, behind the UAE with 42, India with 40, Greater China with 39 and Japan with 34.
Within Southeast Asia, Singapore narrowly led Vietnam, which had 24 recognised companies, followed by the Philippines with 20, Indonesia with 19, Thailand with 18 and Malaysia with 15. Together, the six markets accounted for 121 of the 200 companies on the regional list.
Workplace culture meets retention pressure
Singapore’s strong showing comes as employers face increasing pressure to retain skilled workers. Aon’s 2025 Salary Increase and Turnover Study projects that 19.3 per cent of skilled workers in Singapore will change jobs in 2026, the second-highest expected turnover rate among the six Southeast Asian markets covered by the study.
At the same time, Singapore employers are budgeting average salary increases of 4.3 per cent, below the regional average of 5.3 per cent and the lowest among the six markets.
The combination suggests that employers may need to look beyond compensation to strengthen retention, particularly through factors such as trust, fairness, flexibility and the quality of people management.
Technology remains a major workplace strength
Information technology was the largest industry group among Singapore’s 25 recognised companies, accounting for six entrants. Cisco ranked third overall in Asia, while Visa ranked 39th and Mastercard 65th.
Singapore also recorded a strong presence in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. AbbVie ranked fourth overall, while Merz Aesthetics placed ninth among small and medium workplaces and Amgen ranked 50th.
Manufacturing and production accounted for four Singapore companies, while hospitality and biotechnology each had three.
Real estate enters the workplace conversation
The inclusion of two Singapore-based real estate companies, JustCo and Pontiac Land Group, is another notable feature of the ranking.
JustCo ranked fifth among Asia’s small and medium workplaces, while Pontiac Land Group ranked 97th. They were the only real estate companies from Southeast Asia to make the regional list.
Across Asia, just 11 real estate companies were recognised, six of them from the UAE. Singapore was the only market outside the Gulf and Japan with more than one real estate entrant.
The result highlights how workplace experience is becoming increasingly relevant to property and flexible workspace businesses, particularly as employers reassess office use, hybrid working and employee experience.
Employee experience remains central to the ranking
The ranking is based on employee feedback rather than a judging panel. Great Place To Work’s survey includes 60 statements and two open-ended questions covering areas such as leadership accessibility and honesty, fairness in pay and promotion, and whether employees find meaning in their work.
The methodology also considers consistency in employee experiences across an organisation. This means companies can be affected when engagement and trust vary significantly between teams, departments or employee groups.
This is particularly relevant for Southeast Asian employers managing increasingly diverse workforces across corporate, technical, frontline and regional operations.
The 2026 Asia ranking draws on more than 3.8 million employee responses from companies employing over 8.9 million people across 36 countries and territories.
For Singapore employers, the results reinforce the country’s position as a talent hub, but the retention data points to a continuing challenge: strong employer branding and competitive salaries may not be enough on their own. As skilled workers remain mobile, consistent experiences of trust, fairness and effective management are likely to play a greater role in how organisations retain talent.