The organisation presented its ranking of the 100 best places to work in Europe at an event in Austria on Wednesday. The UK came fourth, with 11 places. Germany had 28.
In the UK's top 50 ranking, Danone took first place and Surrey-based management consultancy Baringa Partners came second.
The global Best Workplaces Programme is the largest of its kind, with more than 1.5 million employees involved across 40 countries.
The institute uses a set methodology to measure the level of trust within an organisation, which accounts for two-thirds of the its score. The rest is determined through a questionnaire looking at values, policies and practices.
This year 1,350 companies took part in the programme with representation from more than 1.1 million employees, who participated by providing anonymous feedback about their workplace experience.
The institute's commercial manager, Williams Johnson, said: "What we are seeing now is that the level of trust in businesses has fallen. We are in a trust recession and businesses urgently need to regain their mandate to lead.
"A trusting environment is particularly important considering the uncertain economic times. The organisations which have made it into the top 100 ranking clearly demonstrate they are great places to work and other businesses would do well to emulate their approach."
Germany tops 'best workplaces' rankings
Germany has the largest number of 'best workplaces' in Europe, according to global research and management consultancy the Great Place to Work Institute.
