On 1 April 2015, the recruitment agency Randstad, announced the 10 winners of its 2015 best-Swiss-employer awards.

Those surveyed were asked how much they would like to work for those companies with at least 1,000 staff. These responses along with other aspects such as career prospects, work environment, pay, work-life balance, training, job security, quality of management, social responsibility and the company’s financial health were included in the assessment.

Nine of the top ten were Swiss brands. Only Google, in number 1 position wasn’t. Watch brands were well represented with Patek Philippe, Swatch, Victorinox and Rolex all making the cut. Also well represented were transportation businesses including, Zurich Airport, Swiss, Swissport International, and Stadler Rail. Nestlé and Google were the only non-watch-non-transport brands on the list.

A whopping two thirds of those surveyed would like to work for Google. “Google is in vogue. The company offers highly attractive conditions in areas that Swiss staff consider important”, said Richard Jager, CEO of Randstad Switzerland. The most important factor is work environment followed by salary, job security, type of work and work-life balance.

The top 10 Swiss employers for 2015 in order were:

1. Google
2. Patek Philippe
3. Swatch
4. Victorinox
5. Aéroport de Zurich
6. Rolex
7. Nestlé
8. Swiss
9. Swissport International
10. Stadler Rail

Earlier this year when the Swiss franc strengthened, the boss of Stadler Rail, number 10 in the list, suggested in an interview with the Sonntags Zeitung, that companies could get staff to work an extra two hours a week for the same pay. His idea was to increase output as an alternative to reducing wage bills via layoffs. The boss’s suggestion of hiking work hours doesn’t appear to have dented employee enthusiasm for the company.

The recruitment firm Randstad was founded in the Netherlands in 1960 with one old bicycle, two student rooms and 500 Dutch guilders. It is now present in 39 countries.