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%