The world's biggest employers
The largest workforces on the planet
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/3b649cdc-ad63-4e7f-b247-b1eec8fda3a3-foxconn.jpg)
30. Aviation Industry Corp. of China: 407,344 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/a79f04f8-467e-4404-aee5-c605aff5c7b6-5-Courtesy-AVIC.jpg)
29. Egyptian Armed Forces: 438,500 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/148f2244-9c57-4a40-ac09-d58f7ac2ddb2-3-Allsdare-Hickson-Flickr-C.jpg)
28. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China: 439,787 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/232b4be6-db7e-4186-8bd0-0a4a2e141e45-6-Courtesy-ICBC.jpg)
27. China Mobile Communications: 454,332 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/dfef5b1e-6000-499b-a50a-b2fe1c45bb27-7-Testing-Shutterstock.jpg)
26. Agricultural Bank of China: 459,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/b8134f0a-b4d4-4f91-8acd-ad6290f525b5-10-Testing-Shutterstock.jpg)
25. Jardine Matheson: 464,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/ea0859a9-c019-47c1-ba28-9ab21c10ae84-2-Courtesy-Mandarin-Orienta.jpg)
24. Kroger: 465,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/34d09dc7-e006-4aea-a973-be13ba3e711c-4-Courtesy-Kroger.jpg)
23. Gazprom: 477,600 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/48417485-3a6d-41a6-93a1-e4afa139b9e1-8-Alexander-Tolstykh-Shutte.jpg)
22. People's Army of Vietnam: 482,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/37d61406-5448-4408-a0e1-de6d97df5b0c-9--Amadeustx-Shutterstock.jpg)
21. Deutsche Post DHL Group: 550,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/190a91c9-194e-4e7d-9fc8-87df2d94f522-11-Vytautas-Kielaitis-Shutt.jpg)
20. Compass Group: 548,254 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/af76f075-9aae-48a4-b49a-d1acc0fdb053-Compass Group.jpg)
19. Republic of Korea Armed Forces: 555,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/e033eb62-4017-4cb8-93c2-0729aa9d1399-14--Shi_Kaiming-Shutterstoc.jpg)
18. Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran: 610,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/5d9add81-1121-4cde-93a7-b29aa5d2cca5-12-saeediex-Shutterstock.jpg)
17. United States Postal Service: 636,171 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/acfa380d-78fc-4116-b7fd-c3f8287d0376-15-Peter-Titmuss-Shuttersto.jpg)
16. Volkswagen: 663,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/3c93bbba-de32-4b25-81f9-1a4085d01182-16-Courtesy-Volkswagen.jpg)
15. Pakistan Armed Forces: 654,000 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/906b9a97-c991-4a37-9574-8489979cf51c-17--Imranahmedsg-Shuttersto.jpg)
14. State Grid Corporation of China: 896,360 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/c85f0835-a530-4775-9b2d-5ff864a772d2-19-Courtesy-State-Grid-Corp.jpg)
Bearing in mind China's huge population, it's no wonder so many of the country's state-owned monoliths appear in this round-up. The world's largest utility company, China's State Grid Corporation, benefits from a monopoly of the power industry in the People's Republic and has more than a billion customers. According to Fortune, it employs 896,360 people, down from 926,067 in 2017.
13. China Post: 927,171 employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/36a7fd95-7d84-47ab-9e30-73817eb69f7a-China Post.jpg)
12. Armed Forces of the Russian Federation: 1 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/77d42457-19d1-4a22-901d-c9c125bbaea1-21-VladJ55-Shutterstock.jpg)
11. Korean People's Army: 1.28 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/130abe32-dac0-4e99-8f4c-a4687e7aad03-22--Astrelok-Shutterstock.jpg)
10. Foxconn: 1.29 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/746e1534-d0d1-417e-a0e9-2c26ab739474-foxconn.jpg)
9. Amazon: 1.3 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/2556e8c8-d56d-415e-a348-22039b80e3aa-Amazon.jpg)
8. United Kingdom National Health Service: 1.34 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/9a035121-85bf-4308-8910-99fed5a6f4ac-NHS.jpg)
7. Indian Railways: 1.4 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/d6ce7440-9557-480d-8d70-e811981c4276-Indian Railways.jpg)
6. Indian Armed Forces: 1.45 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/d1ef3b6d-c16e-4691-ad8d-49ab43de3b37-25-Suman-Bhaumik-Shuttersto.jpg)
5. China National Petroleum Corporation: 1.5 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/72ced98a-5287-4466-8e71-4e5e83c383db-CNPC.jpg)
4. McDonald's: 1.9 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/5284e5d9-4a46-4d1e-9974-0b558eda4ef2-26-Disobey-Art-Shutterstock.jpg)
3. People's Liberation Army: 2.185 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/2c4a0228-2ba8-4419-a21a-b152f30a2545-29-Hung-Chung-Chih-Shutters.jpg)
2. Walmart: 2.2 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/73af4aac-fc9e-4266-91dc-30c739f69109-28-Courtesy-Walmart.jpg)
1. United States Department of Defense: 2.86 million employees
![](https://loveincorporated.blob.core.windows.net/contentimages/gallery/24621707-bed9-4815-94a6-51a7fd86c3e9-US Department of Defense.jpg)
The world's number one employer, the United States Department of Defense has a total of 2.86 million employees. These include civilian workers and active servicemen and women. As well as boasting the largest number of staff of any military force, the United States military also enjoys the biggest defence budget on the globe, which hit $738 billion (£537.8 billion) in 2020.
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