Tech giant Apple is No. 1 in a survey of “Singapore’s best employer” among private and public sector companies. Following it are Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (Heineken Asia Pacific) at No. 2; BMW Group Asia at No. 3; The Lego Group at No. 4; and GSK at No. 5.
The others in the top 10 are Starbucks Coffee Singapore (No. 6), Koufu Group (No. 7), Google (No. 8), Novartis (No. 9), and Airbus (No. 10).
The annual list has been compiled in collaboration between The Straits Times and international data research platform Statista.
Giving details of the survey mechanism, ST said: “Singapore’s Best Employers 2025 ranks the top 250 firms among companies and institutions that have at least 200 employees [in the island nation].”
ST added that the online survey was conducted in October-November 2024, and that the survey “allowed eligible employees to recommend their own company as well as other employers within the same sector”. The survey respondents were about “14,000 staff from 2,000 or so organisations in 27 sectors”, said the Singapore media house.
While private sector companies took the top 10 spots in the “Singapore’s Best Employers 2025” survey, the public sector had three companies in the top 100 — Singapore Civil Defence Force, at No. 81 overall, had the highest ranking among public sector organisations; followed by sovereign wealth fund GIC at No. 83; and the Defence Science and Technology Agency, at No. 90.
Statista analyst Wu Ruoh-Yiang said that the annual survey had been seeing more and more Singapore government sector organisations making the cut. “This strong showing may be linked to Singapore’s global reputation for government excellence,” she said.
The ST report on the survey said that BMW Group Asia, No. 3 in the 2025 survey, was “a new entrant to the list of best employers”.
The report quoted BMW Group Asia Managing Director Lars Nielsen as saying that the organisation supported workers’ ambitions and encouraged them to explore new interests. “If you are going to spend a majority of your time during the week at work, it’s important that it’s interesting, and even fun, at times,” he was quoted as saying.
The company’s PIO employee Gopinath Uthirapathi, Area Manager GKL & BMW M (vehicle classes), who was interviewed by ST following the survey result publication, is one of the employees featured on the company website, where he said: “In short, working at BMW feels great! The progressive mindset, camaraderie and enticing cars fuel my passion to take on the challenges of the day. At BMW, there is always something new to learn. We’re constantly encouraged and supported to develop innovative solutions and try new approaches. It’s a company that truly embraces lifelong learning.”
Uthirapathi told ST, “What matters the most to me is the opportunity to do more and make an impact. The company and its leadership always have one eye on the company and another eye on its people.”
Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore put out a media release on its win, stating that it had climbed up one rung — from No. 3 last year to No. 2 this year — in the Singapore survey of best employers.
“In a rapidly evolving world of work, where employee expectations and workplace dynamics are constantly shifting, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS) remains steadfast in its commitment to building a workplace that puts our people first,” it said. “A great workplace is not built from the top down but shaped together by its people. At APBS, every employee is empowered to turn ideas into action and make a meaningful impact,” it added.
Apple, which was No. 1 among Singapore employers last year, too, had come in at No. 15 in the “World’s Best Employers” survey published by Forbes in October 2024.
Anonymous survey enables frank assessment
The Straits Times-Statista survey enabled respondent employees to remain anonymous, enabling them to freely assess their companies.
ST reported: “Staff members were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own employers to friends and family on a scale from 0 to 10 – where 0 means ‘I wouldn’t recommend my employer under any circumstances’. They were also asked questions in areas such as working conditions, salary, career growth potential and company image.”
