In the aftermath of large-scale layoffs at federal agencies where women constituted the majority of workers, a new list of 700 employers recognized as the best for women has been released.
Notably, one federal agency tops the list, with little mention of other government agencies such as Veterans Affairs, Education, Health and Human Services, Treasury, or Housing and Urban Development, where women also made up a significant portion of the workforce.
Forbes published the "America's Best Employers for Women 2025" list at the end of July, which surveyed 140,000 women working at companies with at least 1,000 employees. From this survey, 700 employers were ranked.
NASA emerged as the top employer, followed by Johnson & Johnson.
Johnson & Johnson notably ranks far ahead of its best-in-class competitors in the drugs & biotechnology industry. They include AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., Lilly, and GSK, as well as others like Moderna, AbbVie, Bayer, Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Within the top 10, there are four employers from the healthcare and social services industry, two insurance companies, one aerospace and defense agency, one drug and biotechnology company, one educational institution, and one in banking and financial services.
Microsoft is the only company from the IT software and services industry to be ranked in the top 20.
Other employers in this sector that made the list include Adobe, Google, Autodesk, Cisco Systems, ATOS, Salesforce, SAIC, Intuit, CDW, LinkedIn, SAP, Akamai, Asana, HubSpot, Oracle, Atlassian, Airbnb, and Nintendo.
In addition to NASA, other employers in the aerospace and defense sector include Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, RTX, and CACI International.
However, there is a considerable gap in rankings among these employers. While NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Northrop Grumman are featured within the top 100, other defense contractors rank between 448 and 647.
Employers in the semiconductor, electronics, and electrical engineering industries rank slightly higher, with several well-known names appearing in the top 300. These include HP, Apple, Intel, Dell Technologies, Sony, and NVIDIA. Their rankings range from 24 to 700.
Utilities are also represented, with employers such as Dominion Energy, Alliant Energy, Consumers Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, DTE Energy, Sempra, Pacific Gas and Electric, Consolidated Edison, and NextEra Energy making the list.
Booz Allen Hamilton leads the professional services industry, followed by companies like CAI, Deloitte, PwC, Accenture, MITRE Corporation, and McKinsey & Company.
In the engineering and manufacturing sectors, there are companies like Siemens, Rolls-Royce, Kohler, Cummins, Corning, Honeywell International, Johnson Controls, and Caterpillar.
Notably, no employers in the banking and financial services industry were ranked within the top 50. However, the top 300 employers include American Express, Morgan Stanley, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC Financial Services, Fidelity Investments, and Fannie Mae.
