Microsoft leads tech firms on best workplace in Europe list

Softcat, NetApp, EMC and Cisco among others to rank in Great Place To Work's European table

Channel firms are some of the best places to work across the whole of Europe, according to a new league table.

The Great Place To Work report ranks the best workplaces in individual countries across Europe, with some of the top achievers being entered into the European contest.

The biggest proportion of the best workplaces across Europe – 28 per cent – was from the IT services and telecoms industry and the UK took the most share – 12 per cent – of the best workplaces when compared to the 18 other European entrants.

Microsoft took the top spot in the multinational category in which a firm must employ more than 1,000 staff, 40 per cent of whom must be based outside the country in which the firm is headquartered.

The vendor was ranked top due to its emphasis on staff's work/life balance, particularly around its working parent policy, which focuses on providing benefits for employees with children. It was also one of just four firms who have made the list every year since its creation in 2002, and was named a "Trust Champion" as a result.

NetApp came in third place in the same category, with EMC, Cisco and SAP taking 13th, 17th and 21st places respectively. The tech firms ranked among other global brands such as Coca-Cola, eBay and McDonald's.

In the category for large firms – which must have more than 500 staff – cloud hosting firm RackSpace appeared ninth, while the SMB section saw Softcat and UKFast rank 10th and 14th respectively.

Overall, more than half a million staff were surveyed across 2,000 companies which entered from 19 countries across Europe. The average time each firm spends on staff training in one year is 80 hours, according to Great Place To Work.