Employees

Employee numbers higher

On June 30, 2008 ThyssenKrupp had 198,033 employees worldwide, a rise of 6,683 or 3.5% compared with the end of the last fiscal year. Employee numbers increased particularly strongly in the service business of the Elevator and Services segments. Steel created new jobs through the construction of new plants in Brazil and the USA. There was a slight fall in the number of employees at the Stainless and Technologies segments.

In Germany the headcount decreased by 1.2% to 83,940, mainly due to the disposal of parts of companies. Elsewhere, workforce figures rose by 7.3% to 114,093. At the end of June 2008, 42% of employees were based in Germany, 24% in the rest of Europe, 16% in the NAFTA region, 8% in South America and 10% in Asia, particularly China and India, and the rest of the world.

ThyssenKrupp employee shares: Programs firmly established

In spring 2008, some 80,000 employees at the German subsidiaries were given the opportunity to acquire ThyssenKrupp shares on special terms for the sixth time. At 59%, the participation rate was the highest ever.

The program is based on the 50/50 model: the employee buys ThyssenKrupp shares up to a value of €270 and pays only half, i.e. up to €135. The other half is paid by the employer. Under German tax law, the 50% employer allowance is free of tax and social security contributions up to a value of €135. The program therefore makes full use of this statutory allowance.

The applicable share price on May 05, 2008 was €40.84. Each package of shares contained six shares and was worth €245.04. Under this year's program, ThyssenKrupp employees acquired a total of 282,000 shares worth around €11.5 million.

National programs were also launched in France, Spain and the United Kingdom in the current fiscal year. Around one in two of the roughly 6,400 eligible employees in France participated in the country's fourth share program, which was carried out in spring 2008.