Employees
The number of employees (full-time equivalents, FTEs) increased slightly to 22,906 as at 31 March 2015 (31 December 2014: 22,669). Additional production, service and sales employees were hired, especially in western Europe and Asia, owing to the expansion of business. The increased headcount, changes to collective bargaining agreements and larger additions to pension provisions caused personnel expenses to go up by 11.1 per cent to €328.1 million (Q1 2014: €295.4 million). Currency effects also pushed up personnel expenses. > TABLE 16
Employees (full-time equivalents) |
16 |
||
|
31/03/2015 |
31/12/2014 |
Change |
Western Europe |
16,129 |
15,985 |
0.9% |
Eastern Europe |
1,776 |
1,767 |
0.5% |
Americas |
657 |
651 |
0.9% |
Asia |
3,782 |
3,722 |
1.6% |
Rest of world |
562 |
544 |
3.3% |
Total |
22,906 |
22,669 |
1.0% |