BW Group’s Andreas Sohmen-Pao must be a top guy to work for. His employees certainly seem to think so.

The tanker, gas and offshore company has just been named as one of the top employers in Singapore in an annual survey.

Now in its fourth year, Singapore’s Best Employers 2023 ranks the top 250 companies and institutions in the city-state with at least 200 employees across 27 industries.

BW Group, which made the list for the first time, was ranked 145th, while AP Moller-Maersk also made the list, coming in at 217.

Other well-known maritime names include ASL Marine, PSA International, Keppel Group and NYK Shipmanagement.

The annual survey by Singapore’s flagship newspaper The Straits Times and global data firm Statista saw more than 17,000 respondents and over 200,000 responses in an independent online survey.

Companies were given a score based primarily on whether their staff members would recommend their company to a friend or family member.

The responses were analysed on a scale of zero to 10 with the results then used to calculate an overall score.

The top score for 2023 was 9.13 out of a maximum of 10, while the score for the 250th place was 6.97. BW Group scored 7.34, while Maersk achieved 7.08.

“This is our first time on the list, ranked as one of the top 150 employers in Singapore and 8th in the transportation and logistics sector…and our people made this possible,” BW Group said.

“At BW, our people and values are key to our global mission of delivering energy for today and solutions for tomorrow.

“From sea to shore — across our core maritime businesses to our growing renewables platform — we take pride in helping our people thrive by investing in their well-being and workplace happiness, with training and development programmes to help them rise higher, in an inclusive environment celebrating diversity,” the shipowner added.

The top five companies in the survey were Google — which has now been ranked first for three consecutive years — consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, US bank Wells Fargo, Apple and Rolls-Royce.

Google Singapore managing director Ben King told The Straits Times: “Being named Singapore’s best employer for the third year running is something we don’t take for granted, and we are grateful that employees...continue to view Google as a place they’re proud to work.”

Statista analyst Wu Ruoh-Yiang said that there was an improvement in overall satisfaction among surveyed employees for 2023 from previous years, with 20 industries out of 27 recording higher overall scores.