Equal Opportunities

As a global company, WACKER operates in international markets and multicultural environments. Holding each employee’s skills and dedication in high regard, we see diversity as an enrichment. We oppose unequal treatment or disparagement on account of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation or age. These principles are valid across the WACKER Group and, as part of our corporate culture, are embodied in our Code of Conduct.

In 2007, we required all employees at our German sites – from the Executive Board down to standard-payscale employees – to familiarize themselves with Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) by completing an e-learning course.

Special arrangements are in place to help and promote WACKER employees who are disabled or suffer from long-term occupational disabilities. In 2008, the Domestic Group’s annual average of disabled employees was 733 (2007: 690). Accounting for 6.3% of WACKER’s workforce (2007: 6.1%), this figure was well above the legally prescribed German rate of 5%. Even so, we had to pay a low compensatory levy, as not every subsidiary achieved the 5% target. Over a third of WACKER’s disabled employees were aged between 55 and 59.

Representatives of WACKER’s disabled employees play a key role in finding suitable positions for anyone with a long-term occupational disability. WACKER also supports severely disabled people who cannot find work on the general job market, e.g. via collaborative ventures with workshops for the disabled. Our Burghausen site, for instance, sources key products – such as mounting plates and angle bars – from the charitable Ruperti workshops in nearby Altötting.

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Disabled Employees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2008

2007

2006

 

 

 

 

 

Mandatory workplaces (annual average)

 

628

608

549

Actual workplaces (annual average)

 

733

690

648

Actual workplaces (annual average) as a percentage

116.7

113.5

118.0

Disabled employees as a percentage of total employees, Domestic Group

6.3
 

6.1
 

5.9
 

Compensatory levy

€ thousand

6

4

5

Equal treatment applies to both men and women at WACKER. It goes without saying that we offer equal opportunities to all employees, regardless of their gender. This approach applies to compensation, too. The amount earned reflects each job’s specific demands and responsibilities. WACKER is trying to increase the number of female executives. The Cross Mentoring program serves this purpose. To interest girls in such vocations as electronics specialist or industrial mechanic, we take part in the Girls’ Day event held throughout Germany.

Girls’ Day: Technology Is a Girl Thing! (foto)

Girls’ Day: Technology Is a Girl Thing!

Industrial mechanic or electronics specialist – aren’t they usually a male preserve? That’s a common assumption, even among young people. Girls’ Day 2008 was an opportunity for 126 girls from Burghausen and the surrounding area to set the record straight. At Burghausen’s vocational training center (BBiW), they got the chance to learn about such jobs as chemical technician, electronics specialist and industrial mechanic. Female trainees showed the girls around processing plants, and explained how to operate a plant simulator. In the metalworking unit, the girls were able to put their own skills to the test. Yet again, it was demonstrated that women are just as good at “typically male” jobs as men. BBiW Director Josef Schlehaider was delighted by the schoolgirls’ interest: “The event enables us to broaden their ideas about possible careers. We would be extremely pleased to soon see some of them return as BBiW trainees.” This was the seventh time that WACKER had participated in Germany’s nationwide Girls’ Day.

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Equal Opportunities

 

 

 

 

 

2008

2007

2006

 

 

 

 

WACKER employees

15,922

15,044

14,668

Thereof female

3,506

3,319

3,213

Percentage of WACKER female employees

22.0

22.1

21.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic Group employees

12,110

11,624

11,340

Thereof non-German

1,637

1,632

1,650

Percentage of non-German Domestic Group employees

13.5

14.0

14.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third-level management WACKER employees (FK3)

2,690
 

2,466
 

2,483
 

Thereof female

504

444

481

Percentage of WACKER female FK3 employees

18.7

18.0

19.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WACKER executive personnel (OFK)

204

187

192

Thereof female

13

8

10

Percentage of WACKER female OFK employees

6.4

4.3

5.2