Secure Employment

Material impacts, risks and opportunities

Reduced need for labor and shortage of skilled workers

Structural changes and the chemical industry’s general move away from Germany may potentially result in less demand for labor there with potential negative impacts on employees at our German sites, driven by rising costs and energy prices as well as tightening of regulations, particularly in Europe. At the same time, skilled workers are highly sought after worldwide, which may lead to bottlenecks. This makes it all the more important to be represented in all regions of the world and focus strategically on German skilled workers and on those in other regions.

Since WACKER’s largest production sites are located in Germany, both issues pose a medium-term and long-term risk and might also negatively impact our employees, particularly those in Germany. Employees and their technological expertise are WACKER’s most valuable resources. That is why we strive to be among the best employers in all our regions around the world and to appeal to highly qualified, motivated and socially adept employees.

WACKER’s products help to facilitate climate change mitigation and transitional technologies. We have put actions into practice to reduce our carbon footprint and achieve our target of net zero by 2045. This does not negatively impact the workforce. Instead, we expect this to provide opportunities to maintain jobs and to lead to positive changes in the working environment.

Strategy

We strive to keep our German sites competitive in general. We pursue a number of policies to counter the general shortage of skilled workers. One of our main approaches is for personnel planning to focus on developing our own employees. WACKER also attaches importance to the long-term retention of its employees and therefore its skilled workers. What is more, automation and the use of state-of-the-art technology boosts efficiency and, as a result, reduces the need for skilled workers. Ultimately, we encourage demographic and geographical diversification through internationalization to remain competitive on global markets and to attract the best talent from different regions.

We use Group directives on recruiting and talent management, including responsibility for the processes, to manage this. The Head of Human Resources is ultimately responsible for implementation and compliance.

Combining these policies allows us to effectively cover our labor needs, offer stable and reliable employment conditions, and prepare ourselves for future challenges.

Actions

Maintaining contact with social interest groups and policymakers

We maintain ongoing dialogue with social interest groups and policymakers to keep our German sites competitive. To this end, we have our own representatives in Berlin and Brussels.

Developing and recruiting talent

Our personnel planning is strategically designed to tackle production peaks and economic downturns. WACKER regularly informs its workforce about current business trends and provides timely information on key operational changes. If actions to cut personnel costs become necessary, we do so in close consultation with workers’ representatives. Groupwide talent development hedges against personnel risks and promotes talent from within our own ranks

We keep pace with demographic trends and offer young people long-term prospects. Under a company agreement for WACKER Germany, apprentices and trainees who successfully complete their training with us and demonstrate appropriate skills will be offered a job.

We have a dedicated department responsible for personnel marketing, which includes measures such as information campaigns and attending job fairs.

Increasing employee retention

As an attractive employer that offers its employees attractive social benefits, competitive compensation and motivating work, WACKER strives to retain its employees long-term. That is evident in our employees’ many years of service with us: the average length of service in Germany (permanent staff) was 16.4 years (2023: 16.5 years). The average length of service of WACKER’s executive personnel was 21.9 years.

Strengthening our regions

Regionalization enables us to strengthen WACKER’s global presence and to better fulfill the specific needs and requirements of our various regions. We aim to attract and develop local talent, strengthen the region’s responsibility for itself and also encourage equal opportunity at our international sites.

Target

Group target: one in two management positions to be based in regions other than Germany

We have set ourselves the voluntary quantitative target of basing one in two management positions in regions other than Germany by 2030. We consider management to be “positions with global and/or strategic responsibility” and in Germany “management employees (‘leitende Angestellte’)”.

Compared to the prior year, management positions outside of Germany have increased to 33.0 percent (2023: 32.3 percent).