Atlassian named among the 25 best places to work in the world

Australian tech stalwart Atlassian may have introduced a ‘work from anywhere’ policy this year, but that hasn’t stopped it from being crowned as one of the 25 best places to work in the world. 

The former Smart50 winner has been ranked as the 23rd top workplace around the globe by the Great Place to Work Institute, becoming the only Australian company to make the cut. 

Germany’s DHL Express topped the list, followed by four North American companies: Cisco, Hilton, AbbVie and Salesforce. 

The majority of the top 25 workplaces are headquartered in the US, with 16 of the firms included operating in the information technology, biotechnology or manufacturing industries. 

The annual list uses feedback from employees to assess each workplace, in a similar way to the list of Australia’s best workplaces. According to the Institute, 95% of Atlassian employees say it is a great place to work. 

Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said being included in the list was humbling, “especially in a year when we’ve announced a major shift in how we think about the ‘workplace’. 

Atlassian unveiled its ‘TEAM Anywhere’ policy earlier this year, allowing its 6,640 employees to work from any location in countries where Atlassian has a corporate entity. At the time, co-founder Scott Farquhar said employees would only be expected to come together four times a year, although many indicated they would work from Atlassian offices around 50% of the time. 

“Today, being a great place to work is more than your physical environment,” said Cannon-Brookes this morning. 

“When your values underpin what you do and the decisions you make, reimagining work for the next generation becomes easier.”

In a blog post, Atlassian’s chief administrative officer and general council Erika Fisher said the company’s values, particularly those around being honest, have played a critical role in the company’s transition to a mostly remote workplace. 

“We’ve been honest with our employees that this is uncharted territory, and we don’t have all the answers. But we’re committed to sharing each decision and our progress along the way.”

The World’s Best Places to Work in 2021 are:

1. DHL Express (Germany)
2. Cisco (US)
3. Hilton (US)
4. AbbVie (US)
5. Salesforce (US)
6. 3M (US)
7. SC Johnson (US)
8. Amgen (US)
9. SAP (Germany)
10. Roche (Switzerland)
11. Hilti AG (Liechtenstein)
12. EY (UK)
13. SAS (US)
14. AT&T Latin America; AT&T Mexico, Vrio, DIRECTV, SKY (US)
15. Stryker (US)
16. Novartis (Switzerland)
17. Cadence (US)
18. Novo Nordisk (Denmark)
19. The Adecco Group (Switzerland)
20. Mercado Libre (Argentina)
21. Adobe (US)
22. American Express (US)
23. Atlassian (Australia)
24. Santander (Spain)
25. Teleperformance (France)

Source: Great Place to Work Institute.