Employees

Expansion Projects Increase Employee Numbers

WACKER’s workforce increased in 2011. We had 17,168 employees worldwide as of December 31, 2011 (December 31, 2010: 16,314), 5.2 percent more than a year earlier. The increase was primarily due to WACKER POLYSILICON’s expansion projects at Nünchritz (Germany) and Charleston (Tennessee, USA), and WACKER SILICONES’ expansions at Zhangjiagang (China), Jincheon (South Korea) and Holla (Norway). Siltronic introduced short-time work in November 2011 due to lower capacity utilization. In December 2011, 782 employees were on a short-time work schedule.

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Number of Employees on December 31, 2011

 

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

12,813

 

12,235

 

11,925

 

12,110

 

11,624

International

 

4,355

 

4,079

 

3,693

 

3,812

 

3,420

Group

 

17,168

 

16,314

 

15,618

 

15,922

 

15,044

12,813 WACKER employees (75 percent) work in Germany and 4,355 (25 percent) at non-German sites. We also have 113 temporary workers.

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Number of Temporary Workers on December 31, 2011

 

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

48

 

374

 

247

 

80

 

333

International

 

65

 

114

 

53

 

58

 

213

Group

 

113

 

488

 

300

 

138

 

546

As a manufacturing company, WACKER has a large contingent of industrial employees (56 percent), about a seventh of whom are women (14 percent).

As previously announced, pyrogenic-silica production at the former site in Kempten was closed down in the third quarter of 2011. Production volumes have been transferred to existing facilities at Burghausen and Nünchritz. This structural measure affected 43 employees. WACKER’s redundancy plan did not include any involuntary layoffs. We offered all employees jobs at other sites and just under half accepted. Some employees went into phased early retirement or signed a termination agreement and assumed a new job in the local area.

Personnel expenses rose to a total of €1.28 billion (2010: €1.14 billion), up 12.9 percent on the previous year. These expenses included outlays for social benefits and the company pension plan amounting to €257.3 million (2010: €214.2 million).

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Personnel expenses

€ million

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personnel expenses

 

1,282.5

 

1,135.7

 

1,090.3

 

1,086.1

 

1,014.9

In addition to their fixed base salary (which includes vacation and Christmas bonuses), WACKER employees receive variable compensation – a voluntary payment to employees both on the standard and above-standard pay scales. It consists of a profit-sharing amount and a personal-performance component. In 2011, Germany-based employees at WACKER’s chemical sectors received a profit share for 2010 amounting to 12.5 percent of their annual salary. The profit share for 2011 is also around 12.5 percent. Variable compensation payments totaled €98.5 million groupwide in 2011.

In 2011, management and employee representatives agreed on how the Demography Fund stipulated in the “Working Life and Demography” collective-bargaining agreement will be used. Accordingly, the annual “demographic sum” of €300 per full-time employee will be paid into the company pension plan. As this amount was first offered in 2010, the company provided €600 per full-time employee in the year under review. All standard and above-standard pay scale employees, excluding members of executive personnel (OFKs), receive the demographic sum. In addition to, and independently of, the demographic sum governed by collective-bargaining agreements, WACKER provided a one-time sum of €16.8 million as start-up financing in 2011.

IG BCE (the German mining, chemicals and energy labor union) and chemical industry employers agreed on a new 15-month collective-bargaining agreement in March 2011. The pay scales increased by 4.1 percent. Training allowances were raised by €35 per month.

A WACKER pension is an important compensation component and is available at most of our German and non-German sites – except for regions where legal provisions are inadequate or the statutory pension appears sufficient. In Germany, we offer employees a company pension via Wacker Chemie VVaG’s pension fund (a mutual insurance company). The fund has some 16,800 members and provides pension payments to some 7,300 retirees. The average pension paid was around €630 per month. WACKER pays up to 2.5 times its employees’ annual pension contributions, with the exact amount being determined by the type of agreement. In addition, employees have the opportunity to enlist in a private plan that minimizes their tax burden while saving for retirement.

Training – A Key Focus of Our Personnel Development

Developing and Recruiting Managerial Leaders

More Employee Ideas Submitted

Award for Integration of Disabled Employees

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