Great Place To Work® (GPTW), a leading global consulting firm in organizational culture and healthy work environments, has just released the 12th edition of the Ranking of the Best Companies to Work For™ – Retail 2025.The study included 294 companies, impacting more than 555,000 employees across the country.
In total, 60 organizations were recognized for their consistent people management practices. Among the award winners are 10 small companies, 20 medium-sized companies, 20 large companies , and 10 classified as super-large companies.
The winning companies are distributed across 16 Brazilian states. The state of São Paulo leads with 15 award-winning companies , followed by Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, with seven each . Santa Catarina appears with six recognized organizations , while Ceará and the Federal District have five each. Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais have three award-winning companies each, and Rio de Janeiro has two . Alagoas, Amazonas, Goiás, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Rondônia, and Roraima each have one award-winning company.
According to the survey, the Best Companies to Work for in Retail showed a 16% growth in revenue in 2025, surpassing the 3.4% growth of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the same period.
Age profile
The analysis revealed specific changes in the age distribution of employees in 2025. Professionals aged 45 to 54 years old now represent 12% of the total, with a slight variation of one percentage point , while the participation of those aged 55 or older grew by 2% compared to the previous year. The 35 to 44 age group remained stable, concentrating 24% of employees. On the other hand, the 26 to 34 age group , which was the majority in 2023 with 33%, showed a decrease of four percentage points, reaching 29% in 2025. Meanwhile, professionals aged 25 and under remained the largest group among the award-winning companies in the sector , representing 30% of the total, even with a fluctuation of one percentage point compared to the previous year.
Home time
The length of time employees stay at companies reinforces the high turnover characteristic of the retail sector, which leads among segments with the highest concentration of professionals with short tenure. In 2025, 49% of employees had been with the company for up to two years, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to 2024. The participation of professionals with two to five years of service also grew, from 22% to 24%. The group with six to ten years of service registered a slight increase, reaching 14%.
On the other hand, there was a reduction in the proportion of employees with longer tenure: those with 11 to 15 years of showed a nine percentage point decrease compared to the previous year. And professionals with long career paths remain a minority, with only 3% concentrated in the 16 to 20 year or more age .
Profile by gender
In this excerpt, the research shows that retail companies recognized in the GPTW ranking stand out for their greater female representation, with 53% of their workforce being women. This percentage places the retail sector among the top three sectoral rankings with the highest presence of women. Even so, the index is two percentage points below that recorded in 2023.
Leadership
Analysis of the relationship between gender and management levels reveals progress in female participation by 2025. In senior leadership, women will occupy 28% of positions, a growth of five percentage points compared to the 23% recorded in 2023.
In middle leadership positions, there was a slight increase of one percentage point, returning to the 2023 level of 43%. In other leadership positions, the progress was more significant, with female participation reaching 49% in 2025.
The data indicates that, although the companies awarded in the GPTW Retail 2025 ranking stand out compared to most sectoral lists due to a greater female presence in leadership positions, there are still challenges to overcome in order to strengthen gender diversity at all management levels.
Innovation Index (IVR)
In 2025, 42% of the award-winning companies will operate in the functional stage of innovation, an increase of four percentage points compared to the previous ranking and 12% compared to 2023. However, the study also identified a reduction of three percentage points (14%) compared to the last ranking, in the number of companies in the accelerated stages of innovation. The research reinforces that the capacity for adaptation and innovation is strengthening among the award-winning companies, although organizations in the friction stage still represent the majority with 44 percentage points.
Factors of permanence
The research identified that remuneration showed growth of five percentage points compared to 2024 and seven percentage points when compared to 2023. Quality of life also registered an improvement, with an increase of four percentage points from 2024 to 2025, while stability grew by two percentage points in the same period.
Alignment of values remained stable at 10%. However, the opportunity for growth, while still the main reason for employee retention at the award-winning companies, cited by 36% of respondents, showed a decrease of 11 percentage points compared to 2024.
Check out the ranking at this link:
