With shorter working hours and generous paid holidays, there are a range of reasons why the working culture in France is respected worldwide. The country is also home to many of the world’s biggest brands, spanning a variety of sectors, which means that there are plenty of opportunities, no matter which industry you work in. So, if you’re considering joining the French workforce, take a look at the following companies which are all leading the way in terms of employee satisfaction.

1. SAP

SAP may not be headquartered in France, but the German software company has proven immensely popular with its French staff. Specialising in enterprise software to improve the management of business operations and customer relations, the development of this technology has also resulted in plenty of job opportunities in SAP across a huge range of industries across France.

According to employee feedback left on Glassdoor, SAP is one of the best places to work in France in 2020. One senior consultant at the company wrote that “everything is done to ensure your wellbeing in the business: events, wellbeing workshops, a relaxation room [as well as] attractive pay.” SAP also ranked sixth on the World’s Best Workplaces 2019 survey by Great Place to Work, with 92% of staff saying they would be proud to tell others they work there.

2. L’Oréal

L’Oréal is one of the world’s most famous and successful beauty businesses. As well as the L’Oréal Paris label, the L’Oréal Group also counts top brands including Lancôme, Maybelline and Garnier among its subsidiaries.

In 2018 the company was voted the second most attractive French employer by LinkedIn, based on metrics including how non-employees engage with the company, job interest and retention. Jean-Claude Le Grand, the company’s senior VP talent development and chief diversity officer, believes that L’Oréal is so popular with its team because of what he calls its “unique DNA: our passion for beauty, our culture of innovation and our entrepreneurial spirit,”.

L’Oréal also recently demonstrated its loyalty to its employees by announcing it would not lay off any staff in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and would continue to pay the full salaries of all 13,400 employees across France.

3. Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain is a French multinational corporation in the building materials industry, creating designs and products for the construction, transport, and healthcare sectors, amongst others. The business takes particular pride in its innovation, noting that one in four of its products did not exist five years ago.

Saint Gobain was the highest-rated French company in Forbes’ World’s Best Employers 2019, which is based on 1.4 million employment recommendations. More recently, it was also awarded Top Employers France 2020 certification, in addition to top European and global status. Comprehensive research undertaken by the Top Employers Institute revealed that Saint-Gobain “provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation and has demonstrated its leadership status in the HR environment.”

4. BNP Paribas

The French international banking group is the eighth largest in the world by total assets, and a leading bank in the Eurozone. It defines its mission as: “[contributing] to [a] responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards”.

BNP Paribas topped LinkedIn’s list of ‘Top Companies’ in France 2019, shooting up six places since the previous year. This was calculated according to the attractiveness of the company, its interactions with employees, the interest in published job offers, and talent retention. Elsewhere, the business won the ‘best use of benefits technology’ award at the Employee Benefits Awards 2019, recognising its utilisation and adaptation of technology to achieve effective strategies for employee engagement, recognition or reward.