Nvidia and Google are top two best firms to work for in Israel
Tech companies captured the list’s top rungs. Nvidia Israel this year placed number one, holding the title for the second year in a row after moving to the top spot in 2024, overtaking tech giant Microsoft Israel R&D. Google Israel ranks second, and Microsoft came in third place, similar to last year. Cybersecurity powerhouse Check Point Software Technologies and Applied Materials Israel maintained the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
“What came out of the surveys is that employees are in survival mode for 20 months because of the war,” CofaceBDI CEO Roy Minkov told The Times of Israel. “Employers that understand that during the challenging war period, technology is only half of the equation, and the other half is the people, are scoring in the ranking.”
“Employees today are looking not just for remuneration and pay in the workplace, but much more for a sense of meaning, personal fulfilment, and mentorship; they want to be heard and matter; they want to be part of the bigger business goals; and they expect their employer to be empathetic and flexible to their needs,” said Minkov.
The outbreak of war with the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, and the continued call-up of hundreds of thousands of reserve soldiers have caused massive disruptions in operations and economic hardship, forcing many businesses to cut costs and lay off employees.
The CofaceBDI ranking selects the 100 best companies to work for in 2025 based on anonymous surveys of hundreds of thousands of employees working at a sample of 180 companies in Israel that employ at least 100 people.
Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems this year entered the top 10, moving up nine spots to 10th place. German business software firm SAP, which last year bought Israel’s WalkMe Ltd. for $1.5 billion, edged up four spots to seventh place from 11th place in 2024. Israel Aerospace Industries moved down one place to number 8 in the ranking. Direct Insurance held its ranking as the sixth best firm to work for, and CyberArk moved up one spot to number 9 from last year.
Minkov said that defense and military companies such as Elbit scored in this year’s ranking not necessarily because they pay higher salaries or offer better options, but because employees put an emphasis on meaning and making an impact when choosing the workplace.
“We also see a surge in the importance employees place on the resilience of the company and job security, which isn’t very surprising in light of the war situation, and a slowing economy,” said Minkov. “Overall, we found that there is a continuous decline in the importance of compensation and salary, which is replaced by professional development, career path, and future growth within the company.”
US chipmaker Intel, one of the country’s largest employers, dropped one spot to 19th place in the ranking. That’s as the US chipmaker announced global layoffs, also affecting employees at its development centers in Haifa, Petah Tikva and Jerusalem.
Nvidia is among the international tech giants that have expanded their presence in Israel since launching its first operations in the country in 2016. Its activities in Israel are already the firm’s largest outside of the US, where the chipmaker employs over 4,500 workers in seven R&D centers, from Yokne’am to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ra’anana, and Beersheba in the south.
Earlier this year, Nvidia announced an investment of more than $500 million into a new AI research and engineering center, which will be set up in the north of the country. During the war period, Nvidia, alongside its employees, raised funds to donate to nonprofit organizations that are supporting Israeli and Gazan civilians affected by the war.
The fighting in Gaza erupted in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, onslaught when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern communities in Israel, killing 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting 251. Among the kidnapped is one of Nvidia’s employees, electrical engineer Avinatan Or, who is still believed to be in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Sharon Wrobel