BMW 2010 Annual Report Download - page 29

27 GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT
ment, a more restrictive policy applied to the purchase of
receivables and higher collateral levels resulted in the
loss ratio incurred on the segment’s total credit portfolio
being reduced to 0.67%, an improvement of 17 basis
points against the previous year (2009: 0.84%).
The interest rate risk is managed using a risk-return ap-
proach and measured using Value at Risk (VaR) tech-
niques. At a 99% confidence level for a holding period
often days, the aggregate VaR for all financial services
entities amounted to euro 58.5 million.
Size of workforce slightly reduced
The size of the BMW Group workforce decreased slightly
in 2010 by a net total of 777 persons (– 0.8%) to 95,453
employees at 31 December 2010. The primary reasons
were natural fluctuation, pre-retirement part-time work-
ing arrangements and voluntary employment contract
termination agreements. As part of the process of build-
ing up and retaining expertise within the Group, ensuring
access to new talent and strengthening long-term
com-
petitiveness, the BMW Group recruited more than
1,300 employees worldwide in 2010 as well as taking on
more than 1,100 new apprentices.
Temporary employment contracts as basis for flexibility
Against a background of rapidly changing business con-
ditions, the BMW Group employs a range of measures
toensure flexibility, including cross-site deployment of
staff, time accounts, flexible working time modules and
temporary employment contracts. The employment of
temporary staff is a particularly effective way of raising
flexibility and handling short- and medium-term work-
load fluctuations. The BMW Group has made a voluntary
commitment to base the remuneration of temporary
workers on the more generous tariff agreements that
apply to the BMW Group rather than on those otherwise
relevant for the temporary employment sector.
Number of apprenticeships remains at high level
The BMW Group offers a wide range of vocational training
which provides the basis for covering future staffing
requirements at our locations, both in Germany and
abroad. At the beginning of the new training year, a total
of 1,124 young people, 1,080 of them in Germany, com-
menced their working life in apprenticeships with the
BMW Group. Trainees are offered a wide range of oppor-
tunities. The conventional training route to becoming
askilled worker can also be combined with qualifying for
subsequent entry to university.
In particular, promising graduates with middle school
qualifications (i.e. Realschule in Germany) have the
opportunity to study for a Bachelor’s degree under the
auspices of the company after completing their appren-
ticeships. The best performers receive scholarships and
are able to take part in additional training courses as part
of our “SpeedUp” training programme. This arrange-
ment
also helps us cover our long-term need for qualified
engineers.
Our social responsibilities include a commitment to
offering opportunities to under-achieving school leavers.
The BMW Group is therefore creating more places for
theso-called starter qualification, which aims to prepare
Development of credit loss ratio
in %
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
06 07 08 09 10
0.41 0.46 0.59 0.84 0.67