Employees

The number of employees rose by 1.6 percent in 2024. The main reasons were planned capacity increases and the expansion of our hub in Plzeň, Czech Republic. 64 percent of WACKER’s employees work in Germany and 36 percent elsewhere.

At €1,579.8 million, personnel expenses were higher versus the previous year (2023: €1,479.6 million). They included outlays for social benefits and the company pension plan totaling €302.6 million (2023: €282.8 million).

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 up to 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 17,000 members and provides pension payments to some 9,900 retirees. The average pension paid in the reporting year was €727 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.

In 2021, a contribution of around €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.

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. For new employees joining the company since January 2022, the company pension is designed to provide a direct pension commitment on a funded basis together with high-risk cover for reduced earning capacity or death. Paid contributions are managed by a trust company. In 2024, the company’s new pension regulations offered employees covered by old plans (basic pensions through Pensionskasse der Wacker Chemie VVaG based on tariffs AVB 2005 and AVB 2013), too, the option of voluntarily switching to the new system with effect from January 1, 2025. Of the 5,360 employees entitled to switch, some 25 percent accepted the offer.