"We truly believe that our people are our greatest asset and we have invested significantly in training, development and internal culture to build a strong employer brand that sits alongside our outstanding reputation for customer experience and commercial success," Luxon said.
Country manager of Randstad New Zealand Brien Keegan said it was "fantastic" to see Air New Zealand back in the winner's circle.
"Over 60 per cent of respondents indicated that they would like to work for Air New Zealand and rated them highly as employers who offer a 'pleasant working atmosphere', and have a 'very good reputation'," Keegan said.
"This result shows just what an employer brand powerhouse Air New Zealand really is," Keegan said.
Last year's winner, The Department of Conservation, won second place at the awards while Customs took third.
Five of the top 10 employers were in the tertiary education sector, with the University of Auckland fifth, Victoria University sixth, Otago seventh, AUT eighth, and Unitec ninth.
According to the research the education and training services sector is the most attractive in New Zealand, with 39.2 per cent of respondents saying they would like to work in the sector.
"When you look at the research, the education sector rates highly in almost all factors that employees take into consideration when choosing their next employer," Keegan said.
"This sector rated highly as offering jobseekers employment at organisations with a strong reputation, engaging and meaningful work with good career prospects and in pleasant working environments," he said.
The top 20
1. Air New Zealand
2. Department of Conservation
3. New Zealand Customs Service
4. TVNZ
5. The University of Auckland
6. Victoria University of Wellington
7. University of Otago
8. AUT University
9. Unitec Institute of Technology
10. House of Travel
11. University of Canterbury
12. ASB
13. IBM
14. Millennium
15. Spark NZ
16. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
17. Massey University
18. Kiwibank
19. DIA
20. MBIE
