Merck 2010 Annual Report Download - page 38

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74% of all employees come from countries other than Germany. In 2008, the first year in which
we compiled these figures, this was 70%. The increase is primarily due to business expansion in
the United States, India and China. One of our basic principles is to hire and develop employees
from the respective countries. The company’s decision to locate the divisional headquarters of
Merck Serono in Geneva (Switzerland) and of Merck Millipore in Billerica, Massachusetts (USA)
also contributes to the internationality of the workforce, which we want to further intensify.
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Demographic change, and the aging of the population, is not equally noticeable in all countries
in which we operate. However, we must adapt to it, particularly in Germany, some other EU
countries, and the United States. In these countries, the average age of our employees already
exceeds 40 – and we assume that this figure will increase further. In Europe, we are addressing
these demographic challenges in various programs. These include adapting workplaces to the
needs of older employees and establishing a health management program to maintain their
ability to do their job.
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A balanced diversity among the executive staff enhances career advancement opportunities
for talented employees. However, it also enables the company to leverage a broad base of
experience and allows for more differentiated entrepreneurial decision-making.
The percentage of women in management positions, meaning grade 14 and higher according
to the global grading system introduced at Merck two years ago, is currently 22% calculated
across the entire company (excluding employees who joined Merck as a result of the Millipore
acquisition since the global grading system has not yet been implemented for them). The
percentage is higher at the subsidiaries than at corporate headquarters in Darmstadt; it
is also higher in the Pharmaceuticals business sector than in Chemicals. The ratio of women
in management positions is lower in certain Group functions, such as IT for example. Merck
wants to further increase the percentage of women in management positions. Besides the local
measures that are already in place – such as the cross-company mentoring program and creating
opportunities to help employees reconcile the demands of career and family – we intend to
develop further programs during 2011. We set ourselves a global objective of increasing the
percentage of women in top management positions to 25% to 30% by 2016. This target may
be supplemented by local or unit-specific values. At the same time we have created the function
of Chief Diversity Officer to support implementation.
57% of all management positions are held by persons of non-German nationality – altogether
55 different nationalities are represented in such positions. The internationality of our man-
agement levels reflects the global nature of our business activities.
Merck is a highly
international company
Approaches for coping
with demographic change
Merck Annual Report 2010 34