For the second consecutive year, AbbVie leads the ranking of the 15 best Italian companies for workers to work in, according to the 2026 edition of the Best Workplaces for Blue Collar ranking by Great Place to Work Italia. The ranking was drawn up by collecting the opinions of over 4,700 blue collar workers (4,704) active in the main Italian manufacturing and production entities.
On the podium, after AbbVie – a biopharmaceutical company with a production site in Campoverde di Aprilia and Italian headquarters in Rome – are EGO Italia, based in Camerano (Ancona), specialized in the production of components and burners for gas cooking, and Quick Turn Engine Center Europe, specialized in the maintenance and overhaul of aeronautical engines with headquarters at Rome Fiumicino airport. Both are new entries in the rankings, as stated in a note from the last few hours.
The numbers of trust
In the 15 awarded companies, the Trust Index – the index that measures the average value of positive responses to the organizational climate questionnaire – is equal to 69%, three points more than the 66% of the 2025 edition and 19 points above the 50% recorded by the overall Great Place to Work panel, which includes certified companies not present in the organization’s database.
What distinguishes the best companies are above all two factors: physical safety at work, recognized by 83% of the workers of the best companies (against 67% of the other companies analysed), and the quality of the working environments, appreciated by 72% of the blue collar workers in the ranking (against 54% of the panel).
Compared to 2025, the results improve in all areas analyzed: credibility at 69% (+2%), compared to 69% (+3%), equity at 62% (+2%), cohesion at 69% (+2%) and pride at 72% (+2%). The empowerment of people is also growing (67%, +5%), the possibility of working while having fun (60%, +5%) and the pleasure of coming to work (57%, +4%).
However, an internal gap remains: in the best companies, workers show levels of trust in the organization seven points lower than employees (69% versus 76%).
The blue collar-white collar divide
According to the research, a decisive element in the awarded companies is the behavior of intermediate managers: 64% of workers declare that their bosses look for suggestions and ideas with real interest, 62% feel informed about relevant changes and 59% are involved in decisions that concern their work.
“In recent years, especially after the pandemic, turnover has become an increasingly relevant issue even in production contexts. People have higher expectations regarding their work and, where employment alternatives exist, they are more willing to change company if they do not find a satisfactory environment – declares Beniamino Bedusa, president of Great Place to Work Italia -. For production companies, which already struggle to find qualified personnel, this means having to pay much more attention to what happens in the departments on a daily basis. In a labor market where skills are in short supply, the ability to retain collaborators increasingly depends on the quality of the experience they have every day in the company”.
Bedusa also underlines the need to invest in the managerial training of intermediate figures: “A decisive role is played by department heads and intermediate managers, who represent the most direct point of reference for those who work in production – continues Bedusa -. They are figures who have often grown within the organization thanks to their technical skills, but of whom much more is asked today. They must know how to manage people, not just production processes. Yet, they do not always receive adequate preparation to do so. Investing in middle management is therefore fundamental, as is ensuring a constant presence of top management in all plants, encouraging opportunities for communication and direct discussion with workers. One of the aspects on which companies must work most is precisely the gap in work experience between white collars and blue collars, who too often experience very different organizational realities despite belonging to the same company. The companies awarded in the Best Workplaces for Blue Collar 2026 ranking – concludes Bedusa – stand out precisely for their ability to address this distance, ensuring that attention towards people and the quality of the working environment are not reserved only for those. works in offices.”
The complete ranking and geographical distribution
In addition to the first three, the ranking is completed by: Rheinmetall Italia spa (aerospace); Unox (manufacturing and production); La Marzocco (manufacturing and production); Ard Raccanello (manufacturing and production); Vimec srl (manufacturing and production); De Nora (manufacturing and production); Mondelez (manufacturing and production); Sew-Eurodrive (manufacturing and production); Sapio Group (manufacturing and production); Chiesi (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals); Sirmax (manufacturing and production) and Laboratorio Farmaceutico Sit (biotechnology and pharmaceutical products).
At a sector level, manufacturing represents 67% of the awarded companies, followed by the biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sector (20%) and aerospace (13%). On a geographical level, five companies are based in Lombardy (33.3%), three in Veneto and three in Lazio, two in Emilia Romagna, one in Tuscany and one in Marche.