Globally, just over 49,000 people (FTEs) work for voestalpine. Each and every employee is valuable on account of their individual strengths and abilities and must be respected. The fact that voestalpine’s then CEO signed the company’s “Diversity Charter” in February 2018 underscores the Group’s approach to both diversity and equal treatment. voestalpine is committed to respecting all people with whom it has a relationship—employees, customers, business partners—irrespective of gender, skin color, nationality, ethnicity, religion or worldview, impairment, age, sexual orientation, and identity. This commitment and corresponding actions create a climate of acceptance and mutual trust. As laid out in the chapter on “Respect and Integrity” of the voestalpine Code of Conduct, the Group does not tolerate any discrimination, whatever form it may take.
Differently-abled individuals
In Austria, companies with more than 25 employees are required to make jobs available for differently-abled individuals. As of March 31, 2021, a total of 611 voestalpine employees in Austria reported that they were subject to the beneficiary classification under the Austrian Act on the Employment of Differently-Abled Individuals (Behinderteneinstellungsgesetz). For reasons related to data privacy, outside of Austria no information is collected on employees’ potential impairment. It goes without saying that voestalpine fulfills all statutory requirements regarding the employment and integration of differently-abled individuals that may apply at any given location. A range of measures also ensures that everybody within the Group engages in mutually respectful treatment. voestalpine also supports integration measures outside of the Group’s purview.
myAbility Talent® Program
voestalpine has participated in the myAbility Talent® program since 2020. It helps differently-abled or chronically ill college and university students and young graduates to network with companies that consider an impairment a strength and not an impediment. The program has already been rolled out in seven cities in German-speaking territories; 2020 was the first year it took place in Linz, Austria.
The talent identified as part of the myAbility program is supported over one semester with respect to questions such as how to apply for a job, how to plan their careers, and how to build up their soft skills. During subsequent networking events, the respective individuals can network with companies that recognize the potential of differently-abled individuals and are open to new recruiting approaches. Following the initial contact, the relationships are expanded through so-called “job shadowing,” where select talent spend between one and three days learning about a given employee’s day-to-day work; this involves observing the employee while they carry out their tasks as well as during meetings, events, etc. Unfortunately, no in-person job shadowing took place during the reporting period due to short time work, increasing work from home, and the COVID-19-induced limitations, but digital alternatives were sought out and offered.
Women in voestalpine
It is voestalpine’s stated goal to increase the percentage of women on all levels, from apprentices to executives, as set forth in the company’s Sustainability Strategy:
“We create the general framework for equal opportunity and aim to raise the percentage of women in technical fields and/or among technical apprentices by 2025. We help to make mathematics, informatics, natural sciences, and technology (MINT) more attractive for women and seek to increase the percentage of women in both job applications and employment."
voestalpine ensures through measures that are adapted to individual companies and regional circumstances that potential female applicants are interested in the company and that female employees are given good development opportunities.
As of the annual reporting date (March 31, 2021), women accounted for 14.8% of all employees in the voestalpine Group. The percentage of female workers among wage employees was 5.8%; among salaried employees it was 29.3%. A total of 13.6% of all executives (salaried employees with permanent responsibility for human resources, including forepersons, but excluding members of the Management Board) were women. There was a slight increase in the number of women in most of these categories. The number of women among apprentices completing non-technical training (shown in the “Female apprentices (other)” category) was particularly high and surpassed 50% in the reporting period for the very first time.
Strategic sphere of action “women in & into voestalpine”
Numerous activities aimed at promoting women are already having an effect. For example, there has been an increase not just in the percentage of women in the Group on the whole but also in management positions. An incremental change in the corporate culture can also be attributed to these measures. The promotion of women was made part and parcel of the HR Strategy 2030 in order to flesh out the relevant action steps and further intensify them. A survey was conducted worldwide in voestalpine’s divisions at the end of 2020 to ascertain what exactly was needed. The responses from more than 100 international Group companies showed that the following measures are key: specific personnel marketing, focused talent and personnel development, work-life balance as well as adjustment and/or adoption of internal guidelines.
Existent activities include companies’ own kindergartens and/or childcare facilities; collaboration with external childcare facilities or childcare grants; flexible work and shift models; enhanced technical training programs for women; continuing professional development (CPD) for apprentices and assistants; mentorship programs; special health programs as well as equal treatment and anti-discrimination policies and guidelines. Additionally, voestalpine will also prioritize the following issues:
- Reduce factors within the corporate culture that pose obstacles to equality
- Promote respectful relationships
- Implement policy initiatives and campaigns specific to women as part of personnel marketing
- Establish continuing professional development
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date |
|
2016/17 |
|
2017/18 |
|
2018/19 |
|
2019/20 |
|
2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Women overall |
|
13.5% |
|
13.8% |
|
14.4% |
|
14.7% |
|
14.8% |
Female executives |
|
11.5% |
|
12.3% |
|
12.5% |
|
12.5% |
|
13.6% |
Salaried employees |
|
28.5% |
|
28.8% |
|
28.9% |
|
29.1% |
|
29.3% |
Female wage employees |
|
4.5% |
|
4.9% |
|
5.7% |
|
5.8% |
|
5.8% |
Female apprentices (technical) |
|
12.4% |
|
13.5% |
|
13.4% |
|
15.6% |
|
14.0% |
Female apprentices (other) |
|
50.8% |
|
47.4% |
|
52.7% |
|
47.8% |
|
50.3% |
Salaried employee structure by gender
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date
Wage employee structure by gender
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date
Age structure of employees
As of the annual reporting date (March 31, 2021), the average age of employees in the Group was 41.6 years. The following table shows the average age by employment contract and gender.
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date |
|
2016/17 |
|
2017/18 |
|
2018/19 |
|
2019/20 |
|
2020/21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wage employees |
|
40.5 |
|
40.4 |
|
40.4 |
|
40.8 |
|
40.9 |
Salaried employees |
|
42.2 |
|
42.4 |
|
42.3 |
|
42.6 |
|
42.8 |
Women |
|
39.5 |
|
39.7 |
|
39.9 |
|
40.1 |
|
40.6 |
Men |
|
41.4 |
|
41.3 |
|
41.4 |
|
41.7 |
|
41.8 |
Salaried employee structure by age group
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date
Wage employee structure by age group
In each case as of the March 31 reporting date
