Competition for Talent

• Positioning as an attractive employer
• Addressing specific target groups through 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. Target group-specific campaigns focus on sustainability, digital ways of working and innovation for the future – reflecting our strategic action areas and key labor market trends.

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. In 2019, we expanded our social media presence with a global career channel on Instagram to give younger audiences in particular insights into employee stories and offer another communication platform.

One focus is on the recruitment of digital talents. We have a dedicated global career website for digital talents to strengthen our position among this group. In addition, we launched a chatbot in 2019 to provide support on our career website and answer questions about the application process at any time of day or night. BASF introduced a digital talent network to help its employees actively shape the digital transformation. This online platform aims to foster dialog around digital projects and ideas across the company and improve cross-team and cross-unit cooperation. Another focus of our activities is attracting talented female recruits. In 2019, we held the first X-Days event in Germany, for instance. We invited female students and PhD candidates in the natural sciences to find out more about BASF and digital career opportunities, and network with female leaders.

We once again achieved high scores in a number of employer rankings in 2019. 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 seventh consecutive year. In Asia, Top Employer recognized BASF China as one of the best employers for the tenth time in succession. In South America, BASF was recognized as one of the top employers in the Brazilian chemical industry by local human resources magazine Você S/A.

The BASF Group hired 8,026 new employees in 2019. The percentage of employees who resigned during their first three years of employment – the early turnover rate – was 1.4% worldwide in 2019. This turnover rate was 0.7% in Europe, 2.1% in North America, 2.8% in Asia Pacific and 2.0% in South America, Africa, Middle East. Our early turnover rate is therefore at a desirable low level.

As of December 31, 2019, the BASF Group was training 3,161 people in 15 countries and around 50 occupations. We spent a total of around €113 million on vocational training in 2019.