Malaysia, April 28, 2021 – LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, announced today the 2021 LinkedIn Top Companies list in Malaysia, an annual guide that identifies the best places for professionals to grow their careers. Many of these companies on the list are currently hiring, with more than 45,000 roles available in Malaysia right now. This is the first time the list is being published in Malaysia.

Topping the Malaysia list this year are PETRONAS (#1) and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (#2), joined by Tenaga Nasional (#3), AIA (#4) and Telekom Malaysia (#5). The rest of the list is dominated by companies whose products and services helped make people’s lives better during the pandemic — from banking, accounting, financial services to telecommunications sectors. All of the companies are investing in employee success, career development, and equity and inclusion, to ensure they continue to be among the best workplaces for employee growth as they embark upon a post-pandemic world.
Chris Anderson, Senior News Editor, APAC, at LinkedIn said: “The past year has presented extraordinary challenges for so many around the world and our Top Companies methodology reflects these realities. This helped us surface companies who are investing in employee growth, as we navigate a world of work that’s forever changed by the global pandemic. We found the best companies that have put their employees first by implementing various policies around well-being and mental health, and helped them get back on their feet, through training and development programmes. For those who are looking for the next role, many of the companies on this list are hiring, with more than 45,000 open roles.” 

Key trends from the Top Companies list include: 

• PRIORITISING SKILLS. Many of the Top Companies have made commitments and launched programmes to develop employees’ skills to meet current and future job requirements. Recognising that digital skills are crucial in the future economy, OCBC (#8) is training and developing the digital skills of all its employees globally under the OCBC Future Smart Programme, while PwC (#9) has digital and soft skills initiatives to help employees remain relevant as their roles evolve. Permodalan Nasional Berhad (#2) makes it mandatory for all employees to complete 64 hours of training a year, to increase competencies and develop high skills to meet current and future demands. “While experience and education are important when it comes to hiring, there is an increasing emphasis on talent with the relevant skills to fit new and emerging jobs such as in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data and Security. Some of these roles did not exist in the past decade or are evolving at an unprecedented rate which demands upskilling and reskilling every one to two years. Despite the pandemic, Intel continues to invest in online learning platforms including Linkedin Learning and Intel Learning Network, which makes learning skills accessible to anyone, anywhere. We’ve moved from face-to-face training to virtual learning to enable employees upskill or reskill while working from home (WFH),” said Eric Chan, Vice President and General Manager of Internet of Things Group (IOTG) Customer Engineering, Intel. 

• SUPPORTING THEIR WORKFORCE THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES. In Malaysia, companies in banking, accounting and financial services dominate the list. The presence of three banks in the Top 10 -- Maybank (#7), OCBC Bank (#8) and Standard Chartered Bank (#10) -- reflects the strength of the banking sector in the country, which has proven to be resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the accounting and financial services industries being represented by two companies, employers in the finance-related sector continue to be the workplaces of choice for professionals in the country. Overall, companies are ahead of the game when it comes to supporting their talent pool, with programmes for flexible work arrangements and employee wellbeing, among others. Standard Chartered enables flexibility for employers to work away from office even before the pandemic. 

• MANY MALAYSIA GLCs ARE HIRING TALENT ACROSS DIVERSE INDUSTRIES AND ROLES. Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) feature prominently in the list, with three GLCs and one Government-Linked Investment Company (GLIC) ranked in the top 5: PETRONAS (#1), Permodalan Nasional Berhad (#2), Tenaga Nasional Berhad (#3) and Telekom Malaysia (#5). With Maybank (#7) and telecommunications company Axiata (#12) completing the list of six GLCs, these local titans continue to attract talent across different roles and jobs, in industries as diverse as Oil & Gas (PETRONAS), Utilities (Tenaga Nasional) and Telecommunications (Telekom Malaysia and Axiata).  

Here are the companies on the 2021 Malaysia Top Companies list: 

1. PETRONAS
2. Permodalan Nasional Berhad
3. Tenaga Nasional Berhad
4. AIA
5. Telekom Malaysia
6. Accenture
7. Maybank
8. OCBC Bank
9. PwC
10. Standard Chartered Bank
11. EY
12. Axiata
13. Prudential plc
14. Intel Corporation
15. Hong Leong Bank Berhad

The complete Malaysia Top Companies list, along with additional lists in global markets, interviews and special features, can be found here. To join the conversation on social media, search @LinkedIn and #LinkedInTopCompanies. 

LinkedIn Top Companies Methodology

The Top Companies list is part of the LinkedIn List franchise, an ongoing editorial series that celebrates professionals and companies making an impact in the professional world. Our Top Companies methodology uses LinkedIn data to rank companies based on seven pillars that have been shown to lead to career progression: ability to advance; skills growth; company stability; external opportunity; company affinity; gender diversity and educational background. A detailed description of the methodology is published within the LinkedIn Top Companies article. This year LinkedIn is publishing Top Companies lists in APAC (Australia, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan), EMEA (France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar), LATAM (Brazil, Mexico) and NAMER (Canada, U.S.). To be eligible, companies must have at least 500 employees as of Dec. 31, 2020 in the country and reductions in staff (including attrition and layoffs) can be no higher than 10% (based on LinkedIn data or public announcements). Only parent companies rank on the list; majority-owned subsidiaries and data about those subsidiaries are incorporated into the parent company score. All data counts are normalised based on company size across the pool of companies eligible for the list. The methodology time frame is Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020. All of the data used is aggregated and/or de-identified. We exclude all staffing and recruiting firms, educational institutions and government agencies. We also exclude LinkedIn, its parent company Microsoft and Microsoft subsidiaries.

About LinkedIn

LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, and transforms the way companies hire, market, sell, and learn. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has 740 million members and has offices around the globe. 

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