Largest Companies by Number of Employees | Top Employers

Walmart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962, consistently ranks as the world’s largest private employer — a position built on thousands of stores and e-commerce operations spanning multiple countries. This ranking measures publicly traded companies by the number of people on their payroll, covering full-time and part-time staff as reported in official filings.

Labor-intensive industries dominate the top positions. The sectors with the largest workforces include:

  • Retail & E-commerce: Walmart (NYSE), Amazon (NASDAQ)
  • Electronics Manufacturing: Foxconn / Hon Hai (TWSE), established in Taiwan in 1974 and famous for manufacturing products for Apple, Sony, and Microsoft
  • Automotive: Volkswagen Group (XETRA), whose workforce was so large that the city of Wolfsburg was purpose-built to house its workers — the group also owns Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Ducati
  • IT Services & Consulting: Accenture (NYSE), TCS (BSE/NSE)
  • Logistics: DHL Group / Deutsche Post (Frankfurt), FedEx, UPS
  • EVs & Batteries: BYD (HKEX/Shenzhen), a multinational conglomerate spanning electric vehicles, batteries, and electronics

Note that franchise-heavy brands like McDonald’s or Subway do not appear in this ranking — only employees directly on a company’s payroll are counted. This means some of the world’s most recognizable names are absent despite their massive real-world footprint. Capital-intensive industries such as semiconductors or pharmaceuticals tend to employ far fewer people while generating significantly more revenue per worker.

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The following table lists the largest publicly traded companies by employee count, drawn from global exchanges. The list includes only publicly traded companies, and the presented data (price, market cap) are regularly updated to reflect the current market situation.

Companies with most employees globally
StockEmployeesPriceChangeChange %
WMT
Walmart
WMT
2,100,000$117.18$0.950.80%
AMZN
Amazon
AMZN
1,576,000$244.39$6.892.90%
2317.TW
Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry)
2317.TW
0TWD268.50TWD3.501.29%
ACN
Accenture
ACN
784,000$127.98$28.0317.97%
VOW3.F
VOLKSWAGEN AG V
VOW3.F
632,552€80.78€3.484.13%
TCS.NS
Tata Consultancy Services
TCS.NS
607,979INR2,125.00INR78.303.55%
601288.SS
Agricultural Bank of China
601288.SS
454,716CNY6.37CNY0.162.45%
TGT
Target
TGT
440,000$130.74$2.932.29%
0941.HK
China Mobile
0941.HK
455,405HKD80.10HKD0.70.87%
1398.HK
ICBC
1398.HK
415,159HKD6.85HKD0.192.70%
TEP.PA
Teleperformance
TEP.PA
0€55.12€0.160.29%
601857.SS
PetroChina
601857.SS
370,799CNY9.58CNY0.191.94%
AD.AS
Ahold Delhaize
AD.AS
132,000€34.61€0.090.26%
SW.PA
Sodexo
SW.PA
314,292€50.65€1.001.94%
SBUX
Starbucks
SBUX
381,000$100.65$0.830.83%
J36.SI
Jardine Matheson
J36.SI
200,000$64.76$1.472.32%
600028.SS
Sinopec
600028.SS
355,952CNY4.71CNY0.142.89%
JD
Jingdong Mall
JD
900,000$27.57$0.341.22%
601939.SS
China Construction Bank
601939.SS
376,847CNY9.92CNY0.212.07%
TM
Toyota
TM
390,241$173.94$1.170.68%
BRK-B
Berkshire Hathaway
BRK-B
392,400$489.46$1.820.37%
601668.SS
China State Construction Engineering
601668.SS
361,249CNY4.61CNY0.122.54%
6501.T
Hitachi
6501.T
282,743¥4,764.00¥36.000.75%
601318.SS
Ping An Insurance
601318.SS
273,053CNY49.38CNY3.386.41%
TNET
TriNet
TNET
326,600$45.29$0.290.64%
CTSH
Cognizant Technology Solutions
CTSH
351,600$43.70$5.1210.49%
CAP.PA
Capgemini
CAP.PA
423,400€89.52€0.520.58%
INFY
Infosys
INFY
337,034$10.57$1.139.66%
TSCDF
Tesco PLC
TSCDF
340,000$5.92$0.000000000000000.00%
FDX
FedEx
FDX
300,000$326.20$0.270.08%
FMX
Fomento Económico Mexicano
FMX
392,000$126.47$0.910.72%
TJX.MU
TJX COMPANIES INC. R
TJX.MU
0€143.00€0.000000000000000.00%
NPPXF
NTT Inc.
NPPXF
341,321$0.92$0.000000000000000.00%
CA.PA
Carrefour
CA.PA
298,604€15.55€0.1250.81%
FRE.DE
Fresenius
FRE.DE
176,486€39.61€0.30.76%
CNXC
Concentrix
CNXC
455,000$25.08$0.341.34%
PEP
Pepsico
PEP
306,000$142.02$0.430.30%
SIE.DE
Siemens
SIE.DE
317,000€274.50€2.300.83%
601988.SS
Bank of China
601988.SS
312,757CNY5.78CNY0.162.69%
COST
Costco
COST
341,000$951.45$14.141.46%
LOW
Lowe's Companies
LOW
300,000$222.20$4.932.27%
JPM
JPMorgan Chase
JPM
318,512$325.22$8.242.47%