Delta Air Lines earned the top spot on this year’s list for its generous support for employees and the communities where they live.
When your company cares, the impact goes far beyond the workplace.
The winners on the 2026 PEOPLE® Companies that Care list are all deeply committed to their employees, and the communities where they live. They have programs that support health care causes and cancer research, develop technology to reduce waste and provide materials to communities in crisis, and help people transition from prison back into the workforce with education and job training.
The programs are one thing, but the people at these companies are the engine of progress. A Delta donates a kidney to a customer. A Scripps Health nurse turned the loss of her son into a foundation that has screened more than 40,000 teens for rare heart conditions.
That’s not an accident. Employees who feel cared for are often inspired to care for others.
“Employees are under immense pressure, and the best workplaces are finding ways to support them in the ways they need,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. “When employees feel that sense of care, they do incredible things — delivering the crucial results that grow businesses and build new markets.”
The top 10 for 2026
Here are the companies who earned top honors this year:
5. Salesforce
7. Synchrony
9. Hilton
Why these companies won
Delta Air Lines earned the top spot on the 2026 list, and their portfolio of philanthropic work shows just how big an impact a company can have.
They constantly involve employees in their efforts to give back and volunteer. Employees nearly raised $1 million for the American Cancer Association in their signature “Jet Drag” event.
Teams worked together to pull a 747 jetliner down the runway in a festive atmosphere at Delta’s hub in Atlanta.
Delta employees also take care of their own, with an employee-led nonprofit fund that provides support to employees, retirees and their survivors. The fund granted $6.6 million in 2024 and has given more than $44 million since its inception.
Grants from the fund go to employees like Pauline, who had her home damaged by Hurricane Debby, while navigating health issues and the loss of her husband. “You have truly made a substantial difference in people's lives,” Pauline shared. “This means more to me than words can express.”
Delta’s culture of giving doesn’t stop there. The airline was the No. 1 corporate blood drive sponsor for seven years in a row, contributing a record 15,585 units of blood in its last year on record.
And the generosity even extends to customers. Jill, a Delta Customer Service Agent in Birmingham, Alabama knew one of her frequent customers, a man named Bruce, needed a kidney transplant. After several co-workers volunteered to get tested, Jill was the only match.
“I sat down with my family and talked about it. And they were, they were very apprehensive at first,” she says. “You know, but if you are able to save a life it's kind of hard not to, you know? I just really wanted to make a difference.”
A culture of kindness is contagious. Jill’s act of generosity is an exclamation mark on the deep roots that Delta has with many cities it connects with flights every day.
Expanding the impact of employees
Sometimes the best thing an employer can do is to amplify the efforts of an employee.
That’s how Scripps Health has helped Rhina Paredes, an RN in its hospital system, and her family to expand their work with the Eric Paredes Save a Life Foundation. Rhina’s son Eric was an energetic sophomore with no known health conditions who died from an undetected heart condition in 2009.
Since its founding in 2011, the Save a Life foundation has helped screen more than 40,000 teens, with over 100 Scripps nurses, physicians and technicians volunteering their time each year.
In one of those screenings 10 years ago, Carson Wells received a diagnosis of Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome, which had put him at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. After a procedure to address his condition, Wells has since gone to nursing school and started working at Scripps, now working alongside Rhina and making a difference in the lives of patients every day.
Using technology for good
Salesforce, No. 5 on this year’s list, has a history of donating pro bono expertise from the company to social causes and nonprofits. For the 2025 fiscal year, the company launched the Salesforce Accelerator “AI for Impact” program, providing $6 million in funding, pro bono expertise and AI tools to three nonprofit cohorts focused on education, climate, and nature restoration.
One beneficiary was Good360, which used AI tools to match donations with communities recovering from natural disasters. Marissa Herencia-White, a Salesforce employee who served as the pro bono project manager on the effort, highlighted the climate benefits of the program.
“Good360 is a critical partner in climate mitigation, diverting over 16,000 truckloads per year from our landfills and into the hands of disaster-affected families,” she says. “We built out an AI and data strategy and now they are leveraging their agent to get closer to their climate goals. It is an honor to see our partnership go from vision to reality."
Transforming lives through work
The difference a job makes in a person’s life is profoundly highlighted when you meet people who struggle to find employment. For people returning to their communities after incarceration, a job is a lifeline — but they often need much more support.
Station Casinos, No. 35 on this year’s list, has proudly worked with Hope For Prisoners, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive re-entry services to men and women in Southern Nevada. Participants are offered entry-level positions in the company, and often have the opportunity to advance.
Program participants pursue education and develop skills, receive mentorship and guidance to manage the difficult transition into society and work.
Partnerships like the one with Station Casinos is deeply valued by Hope for Prisoners. “This collaboration offers life-changing second chances,” says Jon Ponder, CEO and founder of the nonprofit. “Station Casinos, through this incredible leadership, has consistently hired HFP graduates for the last decade and provides critical on-the-job support that helps formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate successfully into the workforce.”
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