People

The Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s largest private employers and seeks to fulfill the responsibility this entails with its human resources policy. As of December 31, 2024, the Volkswagen Group including the Chinese joint ventures employed a total of 679,472 people (614,082 employees excluding the Chinese joint ventures). This represents a year-on-year decrease of 0.7%. The ratio of our total workforce in Germany to those abroad remained largely stable over the past year, with 293,338 (298,687) employees working in Germany at the end of 2024.

EMPLOYEES BY MARKET

in percent, as of December 31, 2024

Group People Strategy and principles of the human resources policy

For the Volkswagen Group, the transformation of the employees is one of the focus topics defined in the Group strategy. The Group People Strategy plays a key role in this context for our three brand groups Core, Progressive and Sport Luxury. This strategy also moves forward with key approaches of the human resources policy that are critical for success.

In our Group People Strategy we have identified a variety of elements with the aim of comprehensively addressing our employees’ and the Company’s needs and expectations, thereby enabling the best possible performance in terms of the Company’s success.

1) “Me” (Me@Volkswagen): We wish to systematically improve the employee experience and ensure that all employees have the best possible conditions in which to do their job.
2) “My team” (Teams@Volkswagen): As our transformation takes shape, the way in which teams in the Volkswagen Group collaborate is fundamentally changing. Hybrid, digital and agile forms of collaboration become more important.
3) “All of us at Volkswagen” (All of us@Volkswagen): The seven Volkswagen Group Essentials set out in the Code of Conduct define the shared underlying values across all of the Group’s brands and companies: We take on responsibility for the environment and society; We are honest and speak up when something is wrong; We break new ground; We live diversity; We are proud of the work we do; We not me; We keep our word.
4) “Volkswagen in society” (We@Volkswagen and the world around us): We are aware that without long-term social legitimacy at our locations and in our markets, we will not be able to continue our business model in times of accelerated changes in values – this applies from an economic, environmental and social perspective. We see our employees as representatives of the Volkswagen Group who communicate our values to society.

Digitalization and the transformation towards e-mobility means that we are on a long-term path of change and renewal. It is important to us to keep checking whether we are keeping to the course we have set out on and are achieving our goals. The following strategic key performance indicators help us measure our progress and take remedial action if necessary:

• Internal employer attractiveness: Until reporting year 2023, the benchmark was derived by asking employees whether they considered their company an attractive employer. This information was gathered for the majority of our Group companies within the scope of the Stimmungsbarometer (opinion survey). In 2024, the opinion survey was suspended in the Group to allow it to be revised. After its revision, it should continue to be provided to all the companies as a tool.
• Diversity index: We have defined targets for the percentage of women in management and the international composition of our top management in order to promote diversity and equal opportunities. Since 2017, these two figures have been combined in the diversity index. Data for the diversity index is collected for the employees of the entire Volkswagen Group, excluding employees in the withdrawal phase of their time asset bonds (time asset bond: time credit from deferred compensation) and excluding vocational trainees and employees in the passive phase of their partial retirement. The proportion of women in management, comprised of management, senior management and top management (including members of the Group Board of Management and brand boards of management), amounted to 19.9% in 2024 and was 0.7 percentage points up on the prior year (19.2%). The intermediate target of 19% for 2024 was thus achieved. The Volkswagen Group wants to increase the proportion of women in management to 20.2% by 2025. This represents an increase of 8.1 percentage points compared with our baseline of 12.1% from 2016. The target of at least 25.0% by 2025 has been defined for the international composition of top management, the uppermost of the three management tiers. Achievement of the target would represent an increase of 8.0 percentage points compared with the baseline of 17.0%, also from 2016. This stood at 29.1 (25.6) % in the fiscal year now ended. The intermediate target of 24.1% for the reporting year was thus achieved. The figures for the proportion of women in management and the internationalization of top management are incorporated with equal weighting in the diversity index and the figures for the year 2016 set to an index value of 100. For 2024 it was planned to increase this index to 149. This target value was exceeded with a score of 168 (154).
• Status of implementation of strategic HR planning: Strategic HR planning supplements operational HR planning by adding a qualitative, long-term and strategic planning perspective. It allows us to identify qualitative and quantitative surpluses and shortfalls in parts of the Company at an early stage and derives necessary qualification, vocational training and restructuring requirements designed to help support the transformation. To map progress in strategic HR planning, we measure the percentage of the active workforce (corresponding to the workforce excluding vocational trainees and employees in the passive phase of their partial retirement) included in the strategic HR planning from 2023. The targets are being adjusted as part of the Group strategy revision, and reporting of the strategic KPI has been suspended for 2024 due to the ongoing efficiency programs.
• Number of training hours per employee: The goal is to increase the average number of training hours per employee in the active workforce (here excluding employees in the withdrawal phase of their time asset bonds) in the Volkswagen Group by 35% to 30 hours per year by 2030. The baseline value is 22.3 hours and represents the average for the base years 2015 to 2019. These years were chosen as the baseline due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily curtailed training activities in 2020 and 2021. The target for this strategic KPI for the reporting year was 26.0 hours. With an average of 20.8 (22.1) hours per employee, the target has not been met. The decrease in the number of training hours is due to the prioritized implementation of efficiency programs in the Group, with the result that the departments did not focus on measures to increase the number of training hours.

In addition to the long-term management of our strategic targets in the Group People Strategy, we also have an annual Top 10 program for Human Resources to support achievement of current targets, to which our Group companies contribute. Human Resources was also represented in the Group’s Top 10 program in the reporting year with the top target “Team & Organization”. The HR board department systematically addressed the current challenges faced by the Company in its Top 10 program for 2024, including the changed competitive environment, the transformation of the industry, increasing regulatory density and the skilled labor shortage. The Volkswagen Group has established efficiency programs in the brands in order to provide the necessary resources to meet these challenges and continue making investments for the future. Defined performance targets at brand level are a core component and have been realized through brand-specific targets and actions. For example, a new collective agreement was entered into at Volkswagen AG in December 2024, which is accompanied by works agreements.

After intense negotiations, Volkswagen AG reached consensus with the IG Metall trade union and the works council on a joint Zukunft Volkswagen agreement. There are plans to realign production capacities at German Volkswagen sites. At the level of collective bargaining, this wage settlement under the company wage agreement until 2030 creates the conditions for financial labor cost savings of €1.5 billion per year. The short-term labor cost savings as well as the structural measures agreed and savings on development costs are expected to lead to cost effects of more than €4 billion per year in the medium term. In addition, there are plans to reduce technical capacity by 734,000 units in the German plants. To this end, the company and codetermination partners agreed not only on structural production measures but also on a socially responsible reduction in the workforce by more than 35,000 employees along the demographic curve at Volkswagen sites in Germany by 2030. For the resulting personnel measures, Human Resources has developed corresponding HR tools such as the “opportunities workshop”, to devise new employee-specific career opportunities for employees affected by the transformation. As of the end of 2024, no further specification of other tools such as retirement or severance programs had taken place.

The collective agreements set out, among other things, that the agreed wage increase for the years 2025 and 2026 will not be paid to employees until the end of 2030, but will instead be used for the socially responsible headcount reduction from 2027 to 2030. Furthermore, the new collective bargaining agreement replaces the previous collective agreements. Starting July 1, 2025, the working week will be standardized at 35 hours in the collective agreement, with a compensation payment to be made in 2025. A new remuneration and grading system will be introduced from January 1, 2027. Employee profit-sharing has been suspended for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal years and will then be staggered over the 2027 to 2029 fiscal years. The “Tarif Plus” bonus system for employees under the collective bargaining agreement has been restructured. From 2025, the anniversary bonus has been converted to a fixed amount and linked to the terms of the collective wage agreements. In addition, the number of training places offered at Volkswagen AG’s plants in Germany has been reduced from 1,400 to 600. The Zukunft Volkswagen agreement created the basis for making important investments in future products until 2030.

Training and Professional Development

Due to the transformation in the automotive industry, we are facing the greatest process of change in both expertise and culture in the history of our Company. We are committed to securing the employability of our entire workforce in the long term. We invest extensively in training, which helps to ensure job security at Volkswagen for our employees even when requirements change. In 2024, the focus was on creating and expanding a program of digital training. We continue to implement and integrate the Success Factors HR system and the learning platform Degreed as a learning ecosystem for digital learning and self-directed training. This creates a common framework for the qualification of all employees in the Volkswagen Group based on and controlled by the Volkswagen Group Academy.

The core components of training at Volkswagen are vocational training and cooperative education (dual study programs combining university studies with on-the-job training). As of the end of 2024, the Volkswagen Group trained 17,201 young people. We have introduced the principle of dual vocational training at many of the Group’s international locations over the past few years and are continuously working on improvements. Even after their vocational training has been completed, young people at the start of their careers are encouraged to continue their professional development with our Company.

Volkswagen offers two structured entry and development programs for university graduates and young professionals. In the StartUp Direct trainee program, graduate trainees gain an overview of the Company while working in their own department and also take part in supplementary training measures. University graduates interested in working internationally can participate in the StartUp Cross program. The aim here is to get to know the Company in all its diversity and to build up a broad network. During their participation in the program, young professionals become familiarized with several locations in Germany and other countries by working in various departments. Both programs also include several weeks’ experience working in production.

Employee Participation

Codetermination and involvement of our employees is deeply rooted in the Volkswagen Group. This includes enabling the most comprehensive representation of employee interests possible in our Group. Volkswagen respects the perspectives and interests of its own employees, and addresses them on an ongoing basis. To this end, the Volkswagen Group maintains a continuous dialogue with employee representatives regarding material positive and negative impacts, both actual and potential, that the Group could have on its employees. We follow the principle of long-term service through systematic employee retention and the right to fair and transparent remuneration, and have concluded collective agreements to this end, for example.

When shaping labor relations to embody cooperation and social peace, we are guided by universal human rights and the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO). Building on these principles, we have agreed various charters and declarations with our Company’s European and Global Group Works Council which set out the principles of labor policy in the Volkswagen Group as well as employee rights. Volkswagen places particular emphasis on protecting its employees and creating a safe and healthy working environment. This means that occupational health and safety are of paramount importance to the Volkswagen Group. It is also important to us that we promote diversity in our workforce and commit to creating an inclusive working environment. We offer equal opportunities for everyone and reject all forms of discrimination.