Employees

Attracting and retaining the best employees is crucial to our success. Technological change is leading to new demands being placed on our employees. Skill development is therefore a key instrument in this context. We want to boost employees’ satisfaction, productivity and innovative power through the ongoing improvement of their skills and expertise. Employee development at BASF is based on the principle that all employees have the opportunity to expand their skills and experience through learning or changing positions and are supported in doing so. Learning takes place according to individual and job-specific requirements.

The BASF Group’s Policy Statement on Human Rights contains our commitment to a fair, diverse and inclusive working environment characterized by mutual trust and respect as well as respectful interaction between all employees. This is also an integral component of our globally applicable Code of Conduct for all employees.

When identifying leadership talent, we also take into account the promotion and appreciation of diversity, for example when it comes to women. Furthermore, we have committed to increasing the proportion of women in leadership positions to 30% by 2030.¹ As of December 31, 2024, the proportion of women working in the BASF Group was 27.1%. The proportion of women in leadership positions with disciplinary responsibility worldwide was 29.3% (2023: 28.4%) as of December 31, 2024.

We consider employee engagement to be a decisive indicator of the success of our measures. We use surveys and pulse checks as feedback instruments to actively involve employees in shaping their working environment. We measure employee engagement as part of the regular Employee Voices² survey. We set ourselves the target of achieving employee engagement of more than 80%. More than 90,000 employees worldwide participated in the survey in 2024 (participation rate: 78%). The survey showed global engagement of 79%, which is stable compared with the previous year (2023: 79%). Our aim is to get this score back to the defined target of higher than 80%.

1 In doing so, we act in accordance with applicable local laws.

2 The scope of employees surveyed goes beyond the scope of consolidation. However, there are exceptions for companies that represent joint ventures as well as companies held for sale.

The total number of employees as of December 31, 2024, was 111,822 compared with 111,991 as of December 31, 2023. The decline was primarily due to retirements and departures due to dormant employment as well as measures in connection with the cost savings program focusing on Europe. Staff increases in Asia Pacific, especially for the new Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China, had an offsetting effect.

BASF Group employees by region

The rate of employee turnover according to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) definition – the proportion of employees who left the company in 2024 – amounted to 7.2% globally.

As of December 31, 2024, the BASF Group was training 2,941 people in various occupations (2023: 3,045).
 

For more information on careers at BASF, see basf.com/careers

Adequate compensation is an important component of the package we offer to employees that makes us a compelling choice as employer. Our central action in this area is the annual review of our compensation levels worldwide using external market data, among other things. This allows us to aim for market-oriented and appropriate compensation in the respective countries or markets and to analyze the effectiveness of adjustments to our compensation levels as part of the process. As a rule, compensation comprises fixed and variable components as well as benefits. In many countries, these benefits exceed legal requirements and include, for example, company pension benefits, supplementary health insurance and share programs.

According to globally consistent criteria, positions are assigned BASF job grades independent of individuals; these form the basis for compensation. Job grades are assigned according to the demands of the respective function. In this way, we want to make positions comparable on a worldwide basis and create a foundation for compensation commensurate with function. We use the BASF Group’s return on capital employed (ROCE) to measure economic success for the purposes of variable compensation. This links variable compensation to our ROCE target. Individual performance is assessed as part of a globally consistent performance management process. In addition, we will introduce an enhanced performance management system that provides a closer link between incentives and unit-specific achievements.

Expenses for wages and salaries, social security contributions and assistance, as well as for pensions totaled €11,241 million in 2024. The increase was mainly due to a higher wage and salary level.

BASF Group personnel expenses

Our Compliance Program is based on our corporate values and voluntary commitments as well as applicable international standards. We are convinced that compliance with these principles plays a key role in ensuring our company’s long-term success. The global program describes our commitment to responsible conduct and expectations around how all BASF employees interact with business partners, officials, coworkers and society.

At the core of our Compliance Program is the global, standardized Code of Conduct, which is overseen by the BASF Board of Executive Directors and to which all employees and leaders must adhere. It covers topics ranging from corruption and antitrust laws to human rights, labor and social standards, conflicts of interest, whistleblower protection, trade control and data protection. The primary goal of our compliance management system is to prevent violations from the outset. We perform continuous systematic risk analyses to identify and assess material risks from compliance violations, including corruption. This is conducted at the divisional and Group company level.

The structure of BASF’s Code of Conduct

The regular compliance audits performed by the Corporate Audit unit are another source for the systematic identification of risks. These risks are documented in the relevant risk or audit report. The same applies to specific risk minimization initiatives as well as the time frame for their implementation.

Workshops and mandatory training are a key element in preventing violations and are conducted on an ongoing basis either in person or online. Within a prescribed time frame, all employees are required to complete basic, refresher or specialized training on topics such as antitrust legislation, money laundering and trade control regulations. In 2024, more than 120,000 employees worldwide received over 105,000 hours of training on the Code of Conduct. Functions-at-risk, for example procurement, are fully covered by the training program. Training data is collected through documentation in our learning management system as well as individual decentralized reports from Group companies.

Leaders play a key role in our compliance culture by embodying and communicating our values both internally and externally. In addition to special workshops on integrity as a leadership task for newly appointed senior executives, separate training sessions were also offered in 2024 for the managing directors of BASF Group companies.

The online version of our Code of Conduct is aimed at our employees and offers user-friendly features such as case studies, FAQs and additional references. We continuously provide our employees worldwide with up-to-date content such as videos, links to specialist units and requirements as well as direct contact to subject matter experts on the internal online platform and the corresponding app.

In 2024, the BASF compliance hotline received 751 reports (2023: 643). In 2024, violations of our Code of Conduct led to termination of employment in a total of 67 cases (2023: 48). 

For more information on the BASF Code of Conduct, see basf.com/code-of-conduct