How we create the LinkedIn Top Companies 2017 list

We ask a lot of jobseekers today. They're supposed to find places to work that will help train them in the skills they need — hard and soft — to be able to find their next job and the job after that. A career builder today will work at more companies than any previous generation. So every change has to build on the last. That makes planning your career more like playing chess than the old Candy Land method: hop on a trail and hope you work your way up.

LinkedIn Top Companies is your cheat sheet. The companies on this list represent those that are most in-demand, those that have figured out how to attract top talent and then keep them.

The Top Companies list is the first ranking of its kind to be based entirely on actions of users. As the world’s largest professional network, LinkedIn can get a read on what job seekers are doing about their careers in a way never before possible. Our insights team, working with our global editorial team, analyzed literally billions of actions taken by our 500+ million members to come up with a blended score that we used to rank the winners in each geography.

How the list was assembled

Our methodology leverages metrics like:

• Job applications: At what rate are people viewing and applying to job postings featured on LinkedIn?
• Engagement: How many non-employees are viewing and asking to connect with a company’s employees? How many professionals are viewing a company’s career page? What's the reach and engagement of a company's content? How are a company's follows performing? Etc.
• Retention: Are employees sticking around for at least a year?

We then normalized all the results to ensure that companies were measured against peers.

Some final points: Our analysis was only run on companies with over 500 employees; included only actions taken in the 12 months ending in February; and — as with all LinkedIn Lists — excluded LinkedIn and its parent, Microsoft, from consideration.

What we learned about Top Companies around the world

Those at the top think beyond work life...

Flipkart, No. 1 on the India list, allows employees to take a "career break" after two years of working for the company. Employees can use the time to pursue higher education, spend time with family or attend to a medical emergency.

Adobe, No. 24 in the U.S. and No. 7 in India, offers employees sabbaticals after they reach certain milestones, from four weeks paid-time off after five years of service to six weeks off after 15, 20, 25 or more years at the company.

...they go out of their way to lure talent

Morgan Stanley, No. 33 in the U.S., runs a 12-week paid internship program for experienced workers looking to rejoin the workforce after an extended break. Since the program's inception, over 60 percent of participants have received offers to join the bank.

Deloitte Australia, No. 8 in that country, is launching its inaugural return to work program this year. Professionals who've been out of the workplace for an extended period will have the opportunity to join the firm's consulting practice for a 20-week stint with the goal of securing a permanent or contract role at the end.

...and develop the talent once hired.

LVMH, No. 1 in France, runs the Institute of Trades of Excellence, a vocational school focused on training younger generations in luxury artisanal trades where skilled workers are becoming harder and harder to find.

These companies concentrate on closing the pay gap...

Lion, No. 22 on the Australia list, resolved its gender pay differences this past year after an internal audit found that female employees were being paid 3.2% less than male peers in equivalent roles. It also put a plan in place to maintain its zero-gap policy.

Salesforce, No. 4 in the U.S., has spent $6 million to get women and men into parity, recently raising the pay of 11% of its employees.

...and the play gap.

You can bring your dog to work at companies like Dell Technologies, No. 14 in the U.S., and Amazon, which ranks on four country lists, where an on-site "Woof Manager" is assigned to handle the canine guests.

Employees of BMW Group, No. 11 in Germany, can drive to the chapel in style. The company allows employees their pick of vehicle to use on their wedding day, and the historical collection isn't off limits.

Cielo, No. 11 on the Brazil list, brings the medical specialists to its employees, offering free consultations with nutritionists and psychologists at its headquarters.

They believe that getting political builds loyalty...

Until recently it was deemed taboo to mix business with politics, but in the current climate companies are tossing those rules aside. Several Top Companies such as Facebook (3), Airbnb (11) and Lyft (38) took firm stances against the immigration ban in early 2017, while other Top Company CEOs including Tesla’s (6) Elon Musk, JPMorgan Chase’s (20) Jamie Dimon, The Walt Disney Company’s (9) Bob Iger and BlackRock’s (22) Larry Fink sit on the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum.

...and don't worry about bad headlines.

Despite scandals and a string of public outrages, Uber still catapulted near the top of the U.S. list, moving up one spot to No. 5 this year. Job seekers continue to flood the unicorn with job views and applications, both of which nearly doubled year-over-year in February. The takeaway: Employees care about tackling big challenges, but culture matters to hang onto top talent.

Finally: size matters.

America wants to work for a behemoth. On average, companies on the U.S. list have 66,279 global employees, roughly 20 percent more than the list’s global average. Amazon (#2) leads the U.S. list in number of employees, with 341,000 workers.

Check out the Top Companies around the world — and share your thoughts on this year's #LinkedInTopCompanies.