Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Two Triangle firms cracked the top 25 in the first World’s Best Multinational Workplaces list as judged by the Great Place to Work Institute.

SAS, the world’s largest privately held software firm, based in Cary, finished second.

In each of the last two years, SAS has been declared the top firm in Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.”

Quintiles, the world’s biggest life sciences services company, took the 25th spot.

Several other international firms with a major presence in the Research Triangle Park area and North Carolina also made the list.

Microsoft, which has an operation in Charlotte, beat SAS for the top spot.

The Institute is best known for its annual U.S. list of best places to work. The international list’s top 25 was culled from a field of 350 multinational companies based in 45 countries.

NetApp and Cisco, which are large employers in the Triangle, placed third and sixth respectively.

Google finished fourth. Its North Carolina presence includes a large data center in Lenoir and also has a software development office in Chapel Hill.

Novo Nordisk placed 24th. It operates a large insulin production plant in Clayton.

“These 25 companies demonstrate the power of cultural consistency,” the Institute said.

“The 25 world’s best multinationals clearly demonstrate the main attributes of a great workplace — a place where you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do, and enjoy the people you work with,” added Otto Zell, director of International List Management, . “These companies have the courage and confidence to build the kind of workplace where you achieve organizational objectives with employees who give their personal best and work together as a team or family — all in an environment of trust.”

The top 25:

1. Microsoft

2. SAS

3. NetApp

4. Google

5. FedEx

6. Cisco

7. Marriott

8. McDonald’s

9. Kimberly-Clark

10. SC Johnson

11. Diageo

12. American Express

13. Medtronic

14. Intel

15. Hilti

16. 3M

17. Telefonica

18. National Instruments

19. Mars

20. Accenture

21. Roche

22. Novo Nordisk

23. Coca-Cola

24. Atento

25. Quintiles