The Top 50 Companies Working Not Working Creatives Want to Work for in 2020
What are your dream companies to work for or collaborate with?
This is what we ask creatives on Working Not Working to consider when first joining the community or updating their profiles with a new project. It’s a great exercise in weighing who your best clients have been, evaluating where you are now, and mapping out what you want next in your creative career. But it goes further than that—our platform lets hirers at these companies know that you’re passionate about the work they’re doing and creatively aligned with their mission.
Alignment feels like the name of the game now more than ever. Brands are increasingly embedded in our daily lives, but as consumers we get to decide which companies we endorse. Similarly, our creative community endorses their creative missions. Our members are behind the scenes at these companies every step along the way, from an initial pitch to a global launch. Which agencies launched campaigns that sold you on a brand? Which brands launched products and services that you use every day? And which products and services made your life not only more comfortable but also more fulfilling?
On Working Not Working, we get to witness the excitement, accountability, and commitment that drive the relationship between pioneering companies and elite creative talent. The companies mentioned below have embedded creativity into their daily operations, office culture, and public perception. That’s why they’re featured in our latest edition of the Top 50 Companies Working Not Working Creatives Want to Work for in 2020. Our creative community wrote down more than 4,000 names. Here are the fifty agencies, brands, publications, services, stations, studios, tech giants, and more that made the cut, ranked in order.
Artwork by WNW Member Connor Campbell
The Top 50
1. Google
2. Nike
3. Apple
4. Wieden+Kennedy
5. Netflix
6. Pentagram
7. Spotify
8. Google Creative Lab
9. IDEO
10. Airbnb
11. Disney
12. Patagonia
13. Droga5
14. adidas
15. Facebook
16. The New York Times
17. 72andSunny
18. Amazon
19. BUCK
20. Pixar
21. HBO
22. R/GA
23. Glossier
24. National Geographic
25. Mother
26. A24
27. BBDO
28. Adobe
29. Google Brand Studio
30. Sagmeister Inc. / &Walsh*
31. Microsoft
32. Vice
33. Collins
34. Tesla
35. The New Yorker
36. Refinery29
37. Huge
38. Condé Nast
39. Cartoon Network
40. Ogilvy
41. Marvel Entertainment
42. Vogue
43. Penguin Random House
44. Adult Swim
45. Anomaly
46. TBWA\CHIAT\DAY
47. Instagram
48. The Mill
49. The New York Times Magazine
50. Museum of Modern Art
Honorable Mention
Bon Appetit, NASA, McCann, Red Bull, Nintendo, Target, The Coca-Cola Company, Red Antler, Gucci, Vans, frog design, REI, Blizzard Entertainment, Nickelodeon, SpaceX, 2x4, AKQA, DreamWorks, Ueno, Warner Bros., NBA, YouTube, BBC, Apple Music, and Complex Media
*Note: Sagmeister & Walsh has split into Sagmeister Inc. and &Walsh. One dream destination is now two.
Don’t see your name on the list? It doesn’t hurt if you’re hiring WNW creatives and offering them exciting opportunities. They’ll tell all their friends and have you top of mind when they’re next updating their top companies list.
Want to let your top companies know you want to work for them in 2020? Join Working Not Working as a creative. It’s free.
A Look at the Results
The Winner
Congratulations to Google for receiving the most votes to become the Top Company on Working Not Working. It didn’t stop there. Google Creative Lab came in at #8 and Google Brand Studio landed at #29. Click here to see some of the latest Google projects involving WNW Members.
Old Faces & New
The following 18 companies have reputations that precede them. They’ve ranked on our Top Companies list six years in a row. Google, Nike, Apple, Wieden+Kennedy, Pentagram, IDEO, Airbnb, Disney, Patagonia, Droga5, 72andSunny, BUCK, Pixar, R/GA, Mother, BBDO, and Tesla. If you’re curious to see how this list has evolved over the years, check out the 2019/2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014 results.
Also, a warm welcome to the following companies making the list for the first time: A24, Conde Nast, Marvel, Vogue, and Museum of Modern Art. And congratulations to Cartoon Network and The New York Times Magazine for returning to the list for the first time since 2015.
Rising Stars
This year has also seen several companies making significant jumps: Museum of Modern Art (+35), Microsoft (+34), A24 (+27), Cartoon Network (+27), Vogue (+26), Marvel (+22), Condé Nast (+17), and Google Brand Studio (+15). When asked where they see the most opportunity for creative work in the next 5 years, 44% of the Working Not Working community predicted “freelance projects,” while 20% said “in-house with larger brands,” 19% said “in-house with smaller brands,” and just 11% said “in-house with agencies.”
How We Ranked These Companies
Unlike other publications that solicit entries and allow companies to campaign for an award, there is no pay-for-play or easy dropdown lists or checkboxes on WNW's Top 50. This is real data, extracted directly from the minds of creatives in the WNW Community. This year 6,712 creatives filled in a blank form field with their votes.
Who Makes Up the Working Not Working Community?
The Working Not Working community features creatives all over the globe across multiple industries in a variety of roles: Animators, Art Directors, Composers, Copywriters, Creative Directors, Designers, Developers, Directors, Editors, Illustrators, Photographers, Producers, and many more. The breakdown of creatives on the platform is 58% freelance, 24% full-time, 11% full-time but moonlighting, and 7% other. Regardless of the kind of work they do or their current job status, our creatives value one thing most in their career: freedom. “Creative Independence” was the leading answer at 26%, followed closely by “Flexibility in hours and location of work” at 25%.
The Top 5, By Discipline & Location
Separate from the overall list, we’re including sublists of the Top 5 Companies broken down by a range of creative roles. While certain companies deliver a rewarding creative career to multiple roles, we want to highlight which companies each discipline recognizes as their main targets.
We also broke down the results from creatives based in four different markets.
The Top Companies Advertising Creatives Want to Work for in 2020
The Top Companies Animators Want to Work for in 2020
The Top Companies Film/TV Creatives Want to Work for in 2020
The Top Companies Photographers Want to Work for in 2020
The Top Companies Tech Creatives Want to Work for in 2020
The Top Companies Visual Creatives Want to Work for in 2020
Where London Creatives Want To Work
Where Los Angeles Creatives Want To Work
Where New York Creatives Want To Work
Where San Francisco Creatives Want To Work
Share Where You Want to Work
Now we ask you: What are your dream companies to work for or collaborate with?
It’s the start of a new decade, but this survey isn’t about the unknown. It’s about actionable steps you can take to pave the way toward your wish list. How do you do that, aside from continuing to make great work?
Already a Working Not Working member? Update your Top 3 Companies list on the site. When you list a company in your Top 3, we notify hirers on WNW who work at that company. We want to get you hired and it can only help to put your wish list out into the Universe, as well. We’ve built a feature that goes beyond the WNW platform so you can easily share your list to your social channels, and get that positive job energy coming your way.
Not a Working Not Working Member but want to make a list and share it? Become a Member.