Leading domestic human resources service provider 51job has officially released its "2026 Outstanding Employers" list. The selection process, which lasted five months, involved screening tens of thousands of companies across the country, ultimately identifying 400 employers that demonstrated excellence in strategy implementation, AI enablement, and talent management, while also awarding 30 companies with advantages in training the "Best Training Practice Award." This selection serves not only as an annual review of corporate human resource management standards but also reflects new trends in employer development and talent management within the current economic climate. Among the award-winning companies, local enterprises performed notably well, with private enterprises comprising 36% and state-owned enterprises 17%, together accounting for over half of the list and showcasing an overall improvement in domestic corporate management standards. Foreign-invested and joint ventures accounted for 25% and 12% respectively, maintaining strong competitiveness. In terms of scale, companies with over 1,000 employees represented more than 65% of the list, with large enterprises of over 3,000 employees reaching 38%. Notably, 75% of the award-winning companies have overseas operations, highlighting that in the context of globalization, outstanding employers are actively expanding into international markets and correspondingly building international support capabilities in talent management, a trend that has become a significant factor in winning awards.

Survey data indicates that technological enablement and strategic expansion have become the dual engines driving the upgrade of human resource management. Forty-five percent of the award-winning companies listed "introducing new technologies to enhance HR management efficiency" as their primary change, with tools like AI recruitment and talent data dashboards being widely adopted, propelling HR management towards greater precision and efficiency. Concurrently, 43% of companies are implementing internationalization strategies, with HR support involving areas such as cross-cultural talent reserves and overseas employment compliance, thereby bolstering their global footprint. To adapt to the dual transformations of technology and strategy, 40% of companies have undertaken significant adjustments to their processes, organizational structures, or management models, underscoring the critical role of organizational alignment during transformation. In terms of talent strategy, outstanding employers demonstrate a clear path of "actively attracting talent and competitively retaining talent." Over half of the companies plan to expand their recruitment scale, with compensation competitiveness being a core method: 52% of the companies offer salaries above the 75th percentile for their industry, with overall levels significantly higher than the industry average. The benefits system primarily focuses on protective elements such as holiday benefits and supplementary commercial insurance, while the application of long-term incentive tools still has room for improvement. More crucially, career development planning has become central to retention—over 90% of companies provide detailed plans for employees, with 46% covering all staff and 45% focusing on key positions and high-potential talent, forming a refined cultivation system of "comprehensive coverage + focused倾斜 (inclination)."

It is worth mentioning that the application of AI in human resource management exhibits a characteristic of "recruitment priority, layered advancement." Sixty-three percent of companies use AI to enhance recruitment efficiency and person-job matching, making it the most concentrated area of implementation. In specific applications, functions such as AI-powered matching, automated initial screening, and generating recruitment copy have become widely pervasive. In terms of training systems, the award-winning companies show a strong strategic orientation and innovative practices. Seventy percent of training needs originate from the breakdown of corporate objectives, and 59% come from business department KPIs and competency assessments, indicating that training is increasingly tightly linked with strategy and operations. Delivery modes are predominantly blended learning and action learning, emphasizing the combination of learning and application. The development of internal trainer teams has yielded significant results, with over 80% of companies establishing certification and incentive systems. In the employer brand communication of the award-winning companies, corporate reputation, development prospects, and social responsibility have become the three key focuses, showing that employer branding is shifting from "benefit attraction" to "value resonance," aligning with the new generation of job seekers' focus on long-term development and social responsibility.

The 2026 Outstanding Employers list is not merely a report card on corporate human resource management; it also reflects how Chinese companies, amidst waves of technological innovation and globalization, are actively building future-oriented organizational capabilities through management upgrades and talent strategy prioritization. While enhancing their own competitiveness, these companies also set a benchmark for the job market of "talent-driven growth." Their explorations and practices will inject significant momentum into the high-quality and sustainable development of the entire industry.