Equal treatment

Therefore, the voestalpine Group does not tolerate any form of discrimination whatsoever. Rather, the company sees it as an important responsibility to promote and benefit from the diversity of our employees.

At voestalpine, all employees are treated equally regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, or any disabilities. The chapter titled “Respect and Integrity” of the voestalpine Code of Conduct defines human rights as fundamental values, based on the principles of the UN Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights, that are to be complied with by all employees.

Persons with disabilities

In Austria, companies with more than 25 employees are required to make jobs available for persons with disabilities. For reasons relating to data protection and privacy, information about the number of employees with disabilities is not collected outside of Austria. voestalpine fulfills the statutory obligations required by the countries where the respective sites are located.

Women at voestalpine

The percentage of women in the voestalpine Group overall in the business year 2012/13 was 12.6%. This percentage is low compared to other business sectors for industry-specific, historical, and cultural reasons. In the perception of the public, work in a steel and industrial goods Group is still often equated with a high degree of physical exertion or other work conditions that women find unappealing. Therefore, it is commensurately difficult to achieve a balanced recruitment of men and women.

The percentage of female executives, i.e., salaried employees who hold positions with staff responsibility, including forepersons but excluding members of the Management Board, was 10.1 % in the business year 2012/13. Within the scope of internal leadership development efforts, great importance is being placed on continuing to expand the percentage of female participants. In the business year 2012/13, there were 22 women of a total of 146 participants (15.0 %). In the meantime, due to targeted efforts, women are employed in top leadership positions, for example, as managing directors or in technical sectors that have traditionally been dominated by men (e.g., hot-dip galvanizing or wire production facilities).

Women are also in executive positions in financial and legal departments of various Group companies.

voestalpine is striving to take appropriate measures in order to sustainably increase the percentage of women in the Group at all levels. However, there is no female quota in any of the Group companies or at the Group level. Measures include advancement of women in apprentices occupations and increased hiring of female graduates of technical schools and universities. Additionally, Group companies are undertaking activities in this regard, some of which are country-specific.