Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity

We view human diversity as an asset. We oppose discriminatory or derogatory treatment, for instance, on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation or age. These principles are valid throughout the WACKER Group and, as part of our corporate culture, are embodied in our Code of Conduct. Employees can report incidents of potential discrimination – even anonymously. Reports can be made to a supervisor, compliance officer, employee representative or designated HR contact person. Every complaint is investigated, and the reporting party is informed of the outcome. Discrimination incidents are recorded quarterly in the compliance report submitted to the Executive Board. They are also mentioned in the regular reports submitted to the Supervisory Board. We require all employees at our German sites to familiarize themselves with the country’s General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) by completing an e-learning course.

In 2022, we set diversity targets for promoting women and internationality in management:

• By the year 2030, roughly one-third of management positions in the WACKER Group should be held by women.
• WACKER is planning to place around every second regional management position outside Germany by 2030.

Regarding management positions outside Germany, we achieved a significant increase of 2.7 percentage points in the reporting year. This was due in part to our regional growth strategy, as this also had an impact on the number of management positions.

15 percent of Group employees are under 30 years of age; 58 percent are from age 30 to 50 years; 27 percent are over 50.

People from 84 nations work for WACKER. At the end of 2023, 45 out of a total of 151 executives groupwide were of non-German nationality, corresponding to 29.8 percent of the total. A total 16 different nationalities were represented at the OFK senior executive level.

When calculating the proportion of women in management positions pursuant to Section 76 IV of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG), WACKER focuses on the two levels of management below the Executive Board as depicted in the Wacker Chemie AG organizational chart. With regard to the second reporting level, we decided to include only managerial employees from the highest non-payscale level or those who are OFK executive personnel with responsibility for managing employees. The Declaration on Corporate Management contains information about the proportion of women in management and about how WACKER is implementing the German statute on equal opportunity for women and men in management. We defined a target for women in the first and second levels of management below the Executive Board. Our goal is to ensure that women account for 25 percent at both levels by 2026. The composition of Wacker Chemie AG’s Supervisory Board meets legal requirements, with three women among the shareholder representatives and two women among the employee representatives. The Executive Board comprises one woman and three men, which complies with the German Act on Equal Opportunity in Management (FüPoG II).

At WACKER, special arrangements are in place for anyone who has disabilities, who has equivalent status or whose health is impaired. To provide targeted support in line with local laws and regulations, WACKER’s system of workplace integration management calls for close cooperation between supervisors, employees, Human Resources, employee representatives, representatives of employees with disabilities, and Health Services.

WACKER offers its employees extensive opportunities to balance their private and professional lives. These include multiple work-time models in Germany, such as working on a trust basis (work-time autonomy); childcare assistance; school-vacation support at our major sites of Burghausen and Nünchritz; and one week of “family time” for parents of children under eight or for employees providing caregiving to relatives.

WACKER’s membership in the “Familienpakt Bayern” (Family Pact Bavaria) network, sponsored jointly by the Bavarian government and Bavarian industry, highlights our goal to foster a family-friendly corporate culture.