Competition for Talent

• Positioning as an attractive employer
• Focus on social media and online marketing

Attracting and retaining the best employees is crucial to our success. Having an attractive and compelling total offer package for employees is becoming increasingly important given the strong global competition for the best qualified employees and leaders. This is why we are constantly working on measures to increase BASF’s appeal in the global labor markets.

We are increasingly using digital platforms such as our country-specific career websites as well as global and regional social networks to reach potential candidates. This enables us to address specific target groups. One focus is on the recruitment of digital talents. In 2018, we launched a dedicated global career website for digital talents to strengthen our position among this group. In Germany, we also held our second BASF hackathon in 2018 with the motto “Coding Chemistry.” Around 50 university students solved specific problems from our divisions within 24 hours and presented their solutions to a panel of BASF experts.

In North America, our #belongatBASF campaign informed social media users of the benefits of working at BASF in 2018. Employees also joined in and posted about their personal experiences and their working day at BASF. In addition, we offered a global livestream about working at BASF for the first time in 2018, in which our experts interacted directly with and answered questions from potential candidates.

We once again achieved high scores in a number of employer rankings in 2018. For example, in a study conducted by Universum, BASF was again selected by engineering and IT students as one of the 50 most attractive employers in the world. In North America, DiversityInc named BASF as one of the top 50 companies for diversity in recruiting for the sixth consecutive year. In Asia, Top Employer recognized BASF China as one of the best employers for the eighth time in succession.

The BASF Group hired 10,125 new employees in 2018. The percentage of employees who resigned during their first three years of employment – the early turnover rate – was 1.3% worldwide in 2018. This turnover rate was 0.6% in Europe, 2.3% in North America, 2.8% in Asia Pacific and 1.7% in South America, Africa, Middle East. Our early turnover rate is therefore at a desirable low level.¹

As of December 31, 2018, the BASF Group was training 3,174 people in 15 countries and around 50 occupations. We spent a total of around €110 million¹ on vocational training in 2018.