Competition for Talent

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 attractiveness in the global labor markets and are increasingly using digital platforms such as our country-specific career websites as well as global and regional social networks. This enables us to appropriately address different target groups.

Our talent search activities in 2022 were based on a mix of face-to-face events as well as digital offerings. We are continually enhancing and refining these offerings to be able to respond to current developments and the changing needs of applicants, and additionally, to be able to provide the best possible information about BASF as an employer virtually. For example, we are represented at digital trade fairs and conferences. This virtual contact enables a demand-oriented, flexible and location-independent approach. As a result, we were able to continue to attract and recruit talented employees.

We are also involved in long-term projects to promote talent, such as a pilot project run by the Royal Society of Chemistry to help ethnic minorities in the U.K. and Ireland pursue careers in the chemical industry. The launch event for the three-year program was held in London in September 2022.

In addition, we consistently take part in specific career events to directly reach and attract talent from various disciplines, especially female candidates. We focus in particular on our female employees as role models with various initiatives such as career fairs and networking events aimed specifically at women, or on our social media channels. In 2022, we also added a new page to the global career website that highlights our strategic targets on gender parity and on women in leadership positions.

To combat the shortage of skilled workers in production and technical areas in Ludwigshafen, Germany, we used channels like social media to alert qualified specialists to career prospects at BASF in 2022. We also cooperated with the German employment agency, for example, to target skilled workers at informational events and to recruit suitable candidates for BASF who are currently available on the labor market or will be in the near future.

In addition, we are working on implementing a digital onboarding process for new employees and their leaders in the period up to the first day of work and beyond. The plan is to roll out the Enboarder digital tool globally in 2023.

We offer a dual vocational training model at numerous sites. At production sites in the United States, for example, we provide up to three years of dual-track vocational training under the North American Apprenticeship Program (NAADP). We work with local colleges to ensure that apprentices receive comprehensive and integrated tuition, in addition to the practical experience they gain at BASF’s sites. The program was expanded to additional U.S. sites in 2022.

We once again achieved high scores in a number of employer rankings in 2022. For example, in a study conducted by Universum, young scientists ranked BASF as the seventh most attractive employer in Germany (2021: second). In North America, DiversityInc named BASF as one of the top 50 companies for diversity in recruiting for the tenth consecutive year. In Asia, Top Employer recognized BASF China as one of the best employers for the thirteenth time in succession.

The BASF Group hired 10,893 new employees in 2022. The percentage of employees who resigned during their first three years of employment – the early turnover rate – was 1.9% worldwide in 2022. This turnover rate was 0.8% in Europe, 4.0% in North America, 3.8% in Asia Pacific and 2.8% in South America, Africa, Middle East.

As of December 31, 2022, the BASF Group was training 3,049 people in 11 countries and around 50 occupations. We spent a total of around €131 million on vocational training in 2022.

• More information on careers at BASF