Banks and tech are the best place to work...and so is Woolworth's

Want to grow your career? Head for the banks or the big tech companies, according to LinkedIn's sixth ranking of the best workplaces in Australia for career progression. Or, if you prefer the less-beaten path, Woolworth's.

This year, financial services leads the pack, with Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ Bank taking most of the top five spaces. Woolworth's is the outlier, coming in second - up from seventh last year. Tech and more financial services make up much of the rest of the list, although WPP, the parent of multiple well-known marketing and advertising brands, stands out, as do Bosch, bp, and Monash Health.

The highlights of what these employers are doing differs somewhat from 2021, though. Last year, as the economy sank under the weight of the pandemic and companies grappled with the COVID-zero strategy, employers on LinkedIn's list tended to stand out for their employee engagement efforts, including providing support directly related to career advancement, re-entering the workforce, and driving diversity and inclusion.

This year, diversity and inclusion are still going strong, but companies' initiatives have broadened to a smorgasbord of technology adoption and the relevant upskilling for the future of work, plenty of flexibility and hybrid work, and a growing pivot towards sustainability and community issues. Commonwealth Bank, for instance, is going into AI, while Woolworth's is going online big-time. Westpac is training 800 people nationwide in ESG. ANZ Bank and Telstra have gone head-on into a hybrid future.

The full list of 25 companies is here on LinkedIn.