Unilab ranks highest among ASEAN-born firms in TIME-Statista Asia-Pacific employers list

United Laboratories, Inc. (Unilab) was the top-ranked company of Southeast Asian origin in the TIME Magazine and Statista list of Asia-Pacific's Best Employers of 2027, according to Mindanao Times.

The pharmaceutical company placed 24th out of 500 companies in the region with a score of 89.15 out of 100. That put it first among Philippine firms and ahead of other companies founded and headquartered in ASEAN countries, including some of the region's biggest conglomerates.

Other Philippine companies on the list included Ayala Corp. at 32nd with a score of 88.07, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. at 44th, San Miguel Corp. at 55th and Jollibee Foods Corp. at 89th. Del Monte Philippines placed 105th, BDO Unibank 164th, Philippine Airlines 186th, Aboitiz Power 196th and SM Investments Corp. 206th.

Further down were Solaire Resort & Casino, Rizal Commercial Banking, JG Summit Holdings, Century Pacific Group, RealPage Philippines, Megaworld, PLDT, ABS-CBN and Max's Group, which placed 426th.

The ranking, announced globally on November 3, does not look at revenue, profit or market value. Instead, it measures workplace reputation based on a survey of more than 80,000 full-time and part-time employees across Asia-Pacific, with data collected from 2024 to 2026.

Respondents rated from 0 to 10 how likely they were to recommend their current or former employers to family and friends, as well as other companies in their industries. Statista combined both sets of ratings, giving more weight to employees' views of their own workplaces, and scored each company out of 100. More than 7,000 companies were initially evaluated, and only those with at least 1,000 employees in Asia-Pacific and operations in at least two markets were eligible. Employers were identified through an open-ended question meant to limit companies' influence over who took part.

Unilab began in 1945 as United Drug, a small corner drugstore in Binondo, Manila, founded by Jose Y. Campos and Mariano K. Tan. It later moved from distribution into manufacturing and grew into one of Southeast Asia's major pharmaceutical companies, marking its 80th anniversary in 2025.