Worcester #3 in US in employment by foreign firms

File photo Paris-based Saint-Gobain employs 1,950 in Worcester.

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Foreign companies now employ nine percent of Greater Worcester’s workforce, the third highest among the top 100 US metropolitan areas, according to a study.

Over the past two decades, the percentage of Worcester County employees working for international firms has nearly doubled from five percent, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Foreign companies now employ 24,620 Worcester-area workers, up from 12,020 in 1991.

England is the biggest foreign employer, with its companies accounting for 21 percent of jobs at foreign firms. National Grid, which had 1,100 workers in Central Massachusetts, is based in Warwick, while GKN Sinter Metals, which has operations in Worcester, is based in Redditch.

Spain comes in second with 14 percent, thanks in large part to Madrid-based MAPFRE, which employs 1,920 in Webster.

Paris-based companies Saint-Gobain – which employs 1,950 in Worcester – and Essilor International – whose Gentex Optics subsidiary employs 430 in Dudley – help France take third place, with 13 percent of jobs at foreign firms.

Rounding up the top five are Canada with 10 percent and the Netherlands with eight percent. Stop & Shop, which employs 1,600 across the region, is a subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Ahold.

Insurance carriers such as MAPFRE were responsible for the largest share of employment by foreign companies in Worcester, with 3,100 jobs. Power generation & supply and electronics wholesalers had the second and third largest employment shares, respectively.

Almost 325 foreign-owned businesses have a presence in Greater Worcester today.