Employees

Following the socially responsible implementation of the Shape the Future restructuring and efficiency program initiated in 2020, the employee headcount increased by 9.2 percent in 2022. The principal factors behind the increase were strong growth coupled with increased investment and project spending. 66.3 percent of WACKER’s employees work in Germany and 33.7 percent at international sites.

At €1,595.0 million, personnel expenses were higher versus the previous year (2021: €1,475.1 million). They included outlays for social benefits and the company pension plan totaling €312.6 million (2021: €319.9 million).

At the end of the reporting year, employees on standard payscales at the German sites received the full €3,000 inflation-relief payment provided under the collective bargaining agreement for the chemical industry. Non-standard-payscale employees were given a similar payment to compensate for inflation. Part-time employees received prorated inflation-relief payments of not less than €1,000. Trainees received €1,000 each.

WACKER considers a company pension to be an important component of compensation. It is provided at most of our German and international sites. In Germany, employees who joined WACKER through the end of 2021 receive a pension through Wacker Chemie AG’s pension fund (Pensionskasse der Wacker Chemie VVaG). Employees can supplement their company pensions by making their own additional contributions. As provided for in collective bargaining agreements, WACKER supports employees’ supplementary contributions. Employees in Germany receive an additional supplementary pension for that portion of their salary that exceeds the pension insurance contribution assessment ceiling. The pension fund has roughly 18,000 members and provides pension payments to some 9,300 retirees. The average pension paid in the reporting year was €701 per month. WACKER pays in up to four times an employee’s annual pension contributions, with the exact amount being determined by the type of agreement.

WACKER has reformed the company pension plan for future pension entitlements to make it future-proof, attractive and more flexible. This will relieve the burden on the company, also when interest rates are low. Corporate management and employee representatives have agreed on a model under which existing plans and vested benefits are preserved for current employees. The lifelong pension model will continue to exist for this group of employees, accompanied by new payout options aligned with a person’s particular life situation. For new employees joining the company since January 2022, the company pension is designed to provide an attractive direct pension commitment on a funded basis together with high risk cover for reduced earning capacity or death. As a one-time initiative, the new plan will also be opened for employees covered by existing plans. In 2021, a contribution of €250 million was made to a trust company to partially finance WACKER’s pension obligations from the direct commitments it made in the past. This contribution relates to company pension benefits that go beyond the basic pension provided by Pensionskasse der Wacker Chemie VVaG and are for employees who joined WACKER up to the end of 2021.