Best Places to Work in IT 2026

In a volatile jobs market upended by AI and a host of other factors, it’s important to recognize employers that go above and beyond to support their IT workforce. For the 32^nd year, Computerworld publisher Foundry surveyed large, midsize, and small organizations to find those exceptional organizations. Read our special report to see which companies made our list of the top 100 IT employers, what makes them such desirable places to work, and how they’re tackling the AI upheaval head on.

In this report:

• Cover story: Human touch — IT leaders prioritize a people-first approach
• Top 10 rankings for IT Growth, Workplace Modernization, Career Development & Training, Benefits & Compensation, Retention & Engagement, and Workplace Culture
• Profiles of three Best Places companies: Tractor Supply Company, CME Group, Data Intensity
• The Best Places to Work in IT 2026: Overall rankings by company size
• Methodology: How we chose the best places to work

To read the Best Places to Work in IT 2026 report in glorious PDF format, download it below (no registration required).

Human touch: IT leaders prioritize a people-first approach

The artificial intelligence (AI) juggernaut has yet to fully upend the IT job market. But there are clear signs that disruption is coming as companies prioritize new skill sets, reevaluate key roles, and increase automation of critical IT functions and workflows.

AI initiatives, now scaling beyond proof of concept (POC) into production, are causing IT leaders to rethink their IT talent strategies. Geopolitics, global unrest, and economic uncertainty also are taking a toll on the job market, including technology-related hiring.

Although there are clear signs of contraction, honorees in Computerworld’s 2026 Best Places to Work in IT survey still recognize the value of their IT teams, emphasizing community, culture, and talent development to keep IT professionals engaged in their mission. Hiring remains up, and organizations are moving ahead with annual raises and promotions.

Most companies are investing heavily in upskilling and training initiatives for IT staff, much of it centered on AI, building business acumen, and soft skills. Instead of using AI and automation as a reason to replace IT workers, firms are building processes that keep humans in the loop for oversight and problem-solving while actively retooling IT skill sets for the new paradigm. At the same time, companies are recruiting and nurturing highly specialized talent and resources to fill in-demand skill gaps in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and systems architecture.

“We are building for the long term, and with that aperture in mind, we strongly believe that our biggest differentiator is the talent and skills we have as part of our organization,” says Ravi Mohan, chief technology officer at Credit Acceptance, the No. 2 midsize company in this year’s rankings. “We continue to hire for the needs we think are durable … which include fundamental software engineering skills, new skills like AI and agentic AI, and the age-old skills required for any enterprise, which is the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams.”

Staffs are growing, but the makeup is changing

According to this year’s survey, more than half (56%) of the respondents plan to increase the number of IT hires over the next fiscal year, targeting a 9% increase on average. The percentage of companies growing IT head count is up over last year (50%) but still a big drop from the 2024 survey’s 71%.

Only 6% of the respondents expect cutbacks to IT staff, and 38% anticipate the hiring cadence to remain steady, down from 46% last year. Midsize firms are more apt to be in growth mode, with 68% looking to increase the number of hires in 2026, by 10% on average. Fewer than half (48%) of the large organizations are planning IT workforce expansion, by 7% on average.

Top 10: IT Growth

Demonstrating leadership in growing the IT ranks

In general, IT turnover remains consistent — about a 9% churn rate in most companies, compared to 10% in the previous two years. Smaller companies had slightly higher IT turnover, 12%.

Much of the current growth comes from the contract workforce — clocking twice the hiring rate of full-time employees in this year’s survey. The number of temporary or contract workers rose 12% over the past 12 months, compared to full-time employees, at 0.3%, and contractors currently constitute almost half (49%) of the total IT workforce.

A growing contingent of contract workers can help quickly fill skill gaps for specific projects, and adding contract workers can also be an effective approach for trying out potential employees.

“The contract-to-permanent hire is a good way to culturally test an individual and pressure-test their technology skills,” notes Rob Mills, executive vice president and chief technology, digital, and corporate strategy officer at Tractor Supply, the top-ranked large company in this year’s survey.

Survey respondents also show a preference for external candidates when filling open positions. Organizations tapped internal employees for only one-third of IT vacancies in 2024. One reason is that many organizations require new AI competencies that don’t exist internally. Over the next year, the majority of IT organizations are looking to add expertise in AI/machine learning (93%, compared to 86% last year) and generative AI (genAI) — 82%. Agentic AI, AI ethics, and AI governance are other in-demand skill sets that are relatively new and highly specialized.

At Dayforce, ranked No. 8 among this year’s large companies, AI disruption and economic uncertainty are prompting the leadership team to reevaluate its employee makeup to create greater balance between new hires and developing internal talent, says Carrie Rasmussen, Dayforce’s chief digital officer.

“You can’t go out and hire a five-year AI veteran — it just doesn’t exist,” she explains. “We balance hiring new talent who might have a fresh perspective on how to use AI [with] reskilling our internal team members to give them a chance to jump into new roles and be AI-focused.”

The modern workplace: heavily automated and hybrid

AI capabilities are already reshaping the IT workforce as organizations embrace the latest AI technologies. Most respondents have tested or implemented AI (96%), including genAI (97%), over the last 12 months.

The biggest impacts of these technologies on IT teams include the automation of routine or manual functions (94%), refocusing new staff hires on AI-specific skills or expertise (78%), and fostering more collaboration between IT and data science teams (74%). Nearly seven in 10 organizations (69%) are creating new roles focused on AI management or governance, creating fresh opportunities for IT professionals who fear being automated out of their current role. Already, 45% of the IT tasks handled by internal IT teams are now completely or partially automated.

“Our engineers are working alongside AI to automate repetitive work, accelerate decision-making, and focus on higher-value initiatives,” Rasmussen says. “It’s shifted our talent focus less on technical expertise and more toward adaptability, digital fluency and creativity, and problem-solving.”

Top 10: Workplace Modernization

Making strong commitments to a flexible workplace

IT leaders understand the importance of giving employees — including their own IT staff members — access to new AI tools to improve their comfort level with the new technology.

CME Group, ranked No. 6 among the midsize companies, has given all 1,750 members of its technology group access to genAI tools such as Google Gemini and Gemini Code Assist, which are now embedded in the firm’s development environment. The tools have enabled the team to streamline a lot of time-consuming work, resulting in substantial productivity gains, according to Sunil Cutinho, CIO of the financial services company.

“They are using the tools as a copilot to write features and architecture documents and to generate test scripts from code,” Cutinho explains. “They have identified and resolved bugs and cut two months out of testing, which frees our team up for new opportunities that would have been lost in the past.”

Just as automation is a defining characteristic of the modern IT workplace, hybrid work is the preferred model for the majority of the survey respondents. On average, more than half (54%) of the IT teams have a flexible work option, splitting time between office and remote locations. About one-third (32%) of the average IT staff is fully remote, and 14% are in the office full-time. Regardless of the model, nearly all the respondents (97%) give IT employees some flexibility regarding their work location, but only 35% of employees have the freedom to choose where they work on any given day.

Credit Acceptance operates as a remote-first organization, with 95% of its IT team fully remote. This model has been instrumental in the company’s ability to attract talent, but CTO Mohan notes the need to be intentional about building a high-functioning remote culture that facilitates both collaboration and cohesion.

To establish bonds among employees who aren’t colocated, Credit Acceptance strives to create a “one team” culture, featuring regular in-person gatherings, including a twice-yearly day-long hackathon in which engineering teams come together to practice outside-the-box collaboration. There are also quarterly roundtables held at five regional hubs across the United States, and once a year, the engineering team convenes at company headquarters, in Michigan, for a summer picnic and a holiday party.

A sharper focus on continuous learning

With all signs pointing to AI-driven transformation, reskilling and upskilling are top priorities. IT training budgets are holding steady, with 36% of the responding companies increasing spending this year, compared to 39% in the 2025 survey.

Although a significant focus remains on technical training (100%) and technical certification programs (95%), IT organizations are also emphasizing soft skills, with 91% of the respondents offering business skills training. Among these organizations, 87% are encouraging cross-training to help IT employees stay on top of high-profile technical and business skills. Management and professional/career development is another major area of focus, cited by 94% of the respondents.

Training has become a key lever for helping IT teams stay resilient in times of economic uncertainty, with most efforts focused on in-demand skills in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and cloud (97%). More than half (54%) of the IT organizations said they are committed to reskilling IT employees whose roles have been impacted by AI. Tuition reimbursements, career pathing, job shadowing, and innovation challenges are among the tactics organizations are using to upskill employees, facilitate career development, and develop a more well-rounded business orientation.

Top 10: Career Development & Training

Investing in IT employees to help them grow their skills and careers

Outside of upskilling or reskilling IT personnel, IT teams play a critical role in promoting and supporting AI literacy across the entire organization. Democratization of AI capabilities is a core strategy, with some companies providing sandbox-type environments in which employees can securely and easily experiment with large language models (LLMs) and other AI and automation tools and platforms.

Dayforce embraces democratization as part of a three-pronged program for enterprise AI change management:

• AI learning pathways prepare employees to work with AI through basic training on how to create prompts and AI agents.

• AI champions, handpicked by the different business units for their inquisitive nature and willingness to embrace change, are tasked with helping raise AI literacy among their colleagues in various business functions.

• Executive sponsorship and participation in special AI events, conference tracks, and showcases help the company demonstrate that senior executives are leading by example.

“We want to showcase that AI is for everyone,” Rasmussen explains. “It’s that Oprah moment where ‘everyone gets a tool,’” she says. “We see it as an investment in our people … so they feel empowered and that they are part of the journey.”

Promotions and perks remain robust

Economic headwinds and AI-driven automation aren’t diminishing the value companies place on the IT workforce. Most organizations are still promoting employees, increasing salaries, and offering the usual perks and benefits. This year’s survey shows that IT employee promotions held steady at 12%, which is on par with the 2025 survey results but slightly lower than 2024’s (15%).

Raises also remain the norm. Among IT employees, 90% received a salary bump in 2025, consistent across different company sizes, and 97% of the respondents said that salary freezes are not being considered.

Top 10: Benefits & Compensation

Taking compensation and employee perks to the next level

Companies continue to take a variety of actions to boost employee engagement, including “open door” policies among management (97%), bonuses and other high-value items for high-performing employees (93%), and framing clear career paths with attainable milestones (91%).

Recognition and rewards programs, town halls, and surveys are widely utilized to keep IT employees engaged and satisfied. For example, Tractor Supply hosts monthly IT town halls to celebrate the achievements of team members who go above and beyond in their roles. Team accomplishments are spotlighted through “Barn Raiser” awards.

“We have an extremely strong culture that is all about community and family,” Mills says. “We believe that drives a level of passion and commitment with our team members.”

Top 10: Retention & Engagement

Fostering deeper connections and employee well-being

Diversity efforts continue despite backlash

Organizations are still taking steps to foster belonging and encourage diverse perspectives across their IT teams, despite political backlash over formal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. This year’s honorees cited a wide variety of initiatives to promote diverse company cultures, including efforts that celebrate employee differences (88%), recruitment strategies aimed at attracting diverse employees (83%), and formal diversity and inclusion training (80%). Initiatives to create employee resource groups based on common goals and interests rose this year, reaching 91%, compared to 86% in 2024. However, just 35% of the companies supported internships targeting women and minorities this year, compared to 50% last year.

Data Intensity, the No. 7 small company in this year’s survey, takes diversity seriously, given the global nature of its remote-first IT workforce, which is spread across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India. The managed services provider specializing in Oracle solutions has launched several employee resource groups and holds regular diversity events.

Co-CEO/technology chief Clint Harder takes diversity efforts a step further by working in the company’s Hyderabad, India, office for one to two months every year. “It helps me understand cultural differences, so we can acknowledge the differences and figure out a way to use them to our advantage,” Harder says. “Being face to face with that team helps them understand that I believe in them and appreciate the cultural differences.”

Top 10: Workplace Culture

A commitment to foster belonging and encour­age diverse perspectives

Minority representation in IT is down year over year, to 32% this year from 36% in 2025. But ongoing efforts to entice more women into the IT workforce seem to be working. Women made up 30% of the IT workforce among the respondents this year, up from 27% last year. The percentage of women IT managers is also climbing, reaching 31% this year, compared to 26% in 2025.

At Dayforce, around half of the 40 or so IT managers are women, with nearly the same ratio for the full IT staff. Rasmussen says the company is very intentional about diversity in hiring — selecting an equal number of male and female candidates for interviews whenever possible and giving all of the company’s hiring leaders access to unconscious-bias training to ensure that they are equipped to make objective and inclusive hiring decisions.

The company’s virtual-first policy, which doesn’t require people to be in-office, also helps attract and retain women employees. “Some women opt out of the workforce because they don’t have flexibility,” says Rasmussen. “We are committed to helping them balance their personal and work lives.” — Beth Stackpole

Profiles of three Best Places companies

• Tractor Supply: Investing in an innovation culture to drive success
• CME Group: Taking a hands-on approach to talent development
• Data Intensity: Building a hype-free AI culture

The Best Places to Work in IT 2026

See the top workplaces for tech pros at large, midsize, and small organizations.

Large organization rankings

5,000 or more employees

Midsize organization rankings

1,001–4,999 employees

Small organization rankings

1,000 or fewer employees

How we chose the best places to work

Computerworld conducted the 32nd annual survey to identify the best places to work for IT professionals. On April 15, 2025, it began accepting nominations from organizations that met the following criteria: a minimum of 100 total employees and at least five IT employees.

Beginning on April 15, 2025, prior program participants and newly nominated organizations received a 59-question company survey covering a variety of topics, including workplace culture, IT growth, workplace modernization, IT employee retention and engagement strategies, benefits, and IT career development and training opportunities. The survey included a mix of closed- and open-ended questions.

The nomination and company surveys were conducted online. The responses to the company survey were collected and tabulated by a third-party research vendor, Research Results, Inc., in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The company survey closed at the end of July 2025.

For the purposes of this program, small companies are those with 1,000 or fewer employees, midsize companies those with 1,001 to 4,999 employees, and large companies those with 5,000 or more employees.

Scoring the responses from the company survey involved weighting the results in accordance with an established scoring system that was reviewed internally and vetted by a panel of industry veterans from within and outside of Computerworld/Foundry.

The survey process was managed by Jen Garofalo, research director in Foundry’s Global Services group.

Explore the Best Places to Work in IT 2026

• Best Places to Work in IT 2026 special report
• Tractor Supply Company: Investing in an innovation culture to drive success
• CME Group: Taking a hands-on approach to talent development
• Data Intensity: Building a hype-free AI culture
• About the Best Places to Work in IT program