American Water has been recognized as one of America’s Best Employers for Women in 2026 by Forbes and Statista, putting workplace experience, career development and employee support at the center of the company’s latest recognition. The ranking is based on an independent survey of more than 146,000 women working at companies with at least 1,000 employees.
For large employers, workplace recognition increasingly depends on more than compensation. Career progression, parental leave, flexibility and the ability to build an inclusive professional network have become important measures of how employees evaluate their organizations.
American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States, has been named one of America’s Best Employers for Women in 2026 by Forbes and Statista. The recognition comes from an independent employee survey that evaluated companies across several dimensions of workplace experience.
The ranking considered more than 146,000 women working for companies with at least 1,000 employees. Across three years, the research incorporated more than 4 million employer evaluations. Participants assessed employers on factors including compensation, career development, parental leave and work-life balance.
The survey also asked respondents whether they would recommend their current or previous employers, as well as other organizations they knew through professional or personal networks.
That methodology makes the recognition relevant to the broader HR technology and employee experience market. Rather than measuring workforce policies solely through corporate disclosures, employee-focused rankings attempt to capture how those policies are perceived by the people using them.
American Water’s recognition also highlights the role of employee-led communities in its workforce strategy. The company supports Employee Business Resource Groups that are open to all employees, regardless of personal affiliation.
One such group is the Women’s Empowerment Champion & Ally Network, or WE CAN. The initiative is designed to support women and their allies through programs focused on community, culture and career development.
Employee resource groups have become an increasingly visible component of enterprise employee experience strategies. Technology can amplify these programs through internal communications platforms, learning management systems, collaboration tools and workforce analytics. The challenge for HR teams is turning participation into meaningful career outcomes rather than treating employee groups as standalone engagement programs.
For American Water, the recognition also comes as employers across infrastructure-heavy industries compete for talent in roles ranging from engineering and operations to technology, finance and corporate functions.
Lori Sutton, American Water’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said the company aims to understand and provide opportunities for its employees and emphasized the importance of different ideas, viewpoints, experiences and backgrounds.
The comments reflect a wider shift in human resources toward employee-centered workforce management. Employers are increasingly expected to demonstrate how diversity and inclusion initiatives connect with advancement opportunities, workplace culture and long-term talent development.
For HR leaders, the American Water example is less about a single employer ranking and more about what employees are being asked to evaluate. Compensation remains important, but career development, family support and work-life balance are increasingly intertwined with employer reputation.
That creates a growing role for HR technology. Workforce analytics platforms can help organizations identify disparities in hiring, retention and promotion, while learning and development systems can provide employees with structured pathways to build new skills. Employee experience platforms can also help HR teams measure engagement and understand whether workplace programs are reaching different segments of the workforce.
The more difficult question is whether those systems translate into measurable changes in employee outcomes.
A company can offer parental leave, mentorship programs or employee resource groups without necessarily producing equal access to career advancement. HR teams therefore need to connect program participation with metrics such as retention, promotion rates, internal mobility and leadership representation.
American Water’s latest recognition provides one external signal that employee perceptions matter alongside formal workplace policies. As employers increasingly compete for skilled workers, such third-party assessments can also become part of an organization’s employer-brand strategy.
The recognition does not, by itself, establish that American Water outperforms every competitor on every measure. But the underlying survey provides a useful indication of what a large group of employees considers important when evaluating employers.
For the HR technology market, that distinction matters. The next generation of workforce platforms will increasingly be judged not only by their ability to automate HR administration, but by how effectively they help organizations understand employee experience and turn workforce data into better decisions.
Market Landscape
The employee experience market is expanding around technologies that connect engagement, talent development, workforce analytics and internal mobility. Platforms from companies such as Microsoft, Salesforce, Workday and SAP increasingly intersect with HR operations, collaboration and employee-data management.
For enterprise HR teams, the strategic priority is shifting from collecting workforce data to using it to identify gaps in career progression, retention and employee experience. AI-powered workforce analytics may further accelerate this transition by helping organizations identify patterns across large employee populations.
Employer rankings such as the Forbes and Statista list also illustrate the growing importance of external employee sentiment. While rankings should not replace internal workforce analytics, they can influence employer branding and talent acquisition.
Top Insights
- American Water earned recognition from Forbes and Statista after an employee-focused survey evaluated compensation, career development, parental leave and work-life balance.
- The ranking surveyed more than 146,000 women, making employee sentiment an important data point for large employers competing for skilled talent.
- American Water’s WE CAN employee resource group supports women and allies through initiatives centered on community, culture and career development.
- The recognition highlights how HR technology can connect employee engagement, workforce analytics, learning and internal mobility with broader workplace strategy.
- Enterprise employers increasingly need measurable links between inclusion programs, employee experience, retention, promotion and long-term career advancement.
Join thousands of HR leaders who rely on HRTechEdge for the latest in workforce technology, AI-driven HR solutions, and strategic insights
