Dear readers,
Our employees play a key role in our business success, which is why Daimler’s commitment to social responsibility begins with the men and women who work for us. Even in the aftermath of the Chrysler demerger, Daimler remains a globally operating company with more than 272,000 employees. We took on more than 13,000 new members of staff around the world in 2007, 5,500 of whom were hired in Germany. At the same time, some 14,500 employees left the company in 2007 (5,400 in Germany) either voluntarily or after having reached retirement age. Restructuring measures remain necessary for maintaining our competitiveness. Only by achieving business success can we continue to develop jobs over the long term.
The Human Resources department makes an important contribution to the sustained positive development of the company. That’s why we have created the HR Sustainability Committee, which will address key personnel issues and developments more closely in the future. The professional development of our employees will be a major focus here, which is why we’re investing heavily in the associated measures. If we are able to further promote employees’ talents and their intercultural and personal skills in line with our present and future needs, we will remain successful as an organization. Daimler has also been making substantial investments to assist families with children through our high-quality “Sternchen” daycare centers. In addition, our strategic human resources planning units are currently assessing our future personnel needs in terms of both quality and quantity. By comparing today’s situation with future scenarios that take into account the coming demographic changes, we are obtaining the knowledge we need in order to plan future hiring operations, training measures, health management policies etc. Providing excellent training opportunities remains a permanent obligation at the Group, one that also benefits society as a whole. As a result, Daimler will continue to account for almost 40 percent of all trainee positions available in the German automotive industry.
Our corporate pension system is taking on much greater importance at the company as a result of demographic developments. We are therefore cooperating with employee representatives to modernize this system and prepare it for the future. The diversity of our workforce also requires professional management – and this is especially true in Germany with regard to the percentage of women in managerial positions.
Another important human resources issue at Daimler is employee satisfaction, which we regularly measure through employee surveys. Our overall employee satisfaction results in 2007 matched those of the prior year, and in order to ensure that we continue to make progress in the future, we will utilize the survey results to develop and implement specific measures.
Our employees are our future. They not only make our company what it is but also help to shape society in a variety of ways, both inside and outside the organization. At the moment, for example, 96 Daimler staff members are teaching at universities while continuing to perform their jobs at our company.
Günther Fleig
Member of the Board of Management
Human Resources and Labor Relations Director
