Employees

Number of employees increased

At the end of 2024, the Geberit Group employed a total of 11,110 people (FTE) worldwide. This corresponds to an increase of 163 employees or +1.5% compared to the previous year. The increase is due to capacity adjustments in production and logistics as a result of the higher volumes compared to the previous year, as well as various growth initiatives in developing markets.

Broken down by business process, staff numbers were as follows: operations employed 57% of the staff members, with 28% in marketing and sales. Additionally, 9% of the employees worked in administration, and 3% in research and development. The share of apprentices was 3%.

Based on the average headcount (FTE) of 11,041, net sales per employee amounted to TCHF 279 (+1.1% versus previous year).

In 2024, personnel expenses amounted to CHF 785 million. Once again, the employees were able to take part in share participation plans at attractive conditions, see Consolidated financial statements Geberit Group, Note 17 and Remuneration Report. In the reporting year, 2,800 employees took part in the employee participation plan. This corresponds to a participation rate of 27.3% (previous year 27.2%). The discount on the share price was 35% (previous year 35%). The total costs borne by the company for the discount amounted to CHF 3.3 million. As of 31 December 2024, a total of 4,642 employees were Geberit shareholders.

Diversity and equal opportunity

Geberit offers all employees the same opportunities and strives towards finding the best candidate for every position. A strong emphasis is placed on the promotion of diversity and equal opportunities, and to creating an inclusive culture that enables all employees to develop their full potential in the company. With consistent non-discrimination that extends beyond the prevention and sanctioning of discrimination, a contribution is made to the elimination of social and systemic inequalities.

At the end of 2024, Geberit employed 75% men and 25% women (previous year 76% and 24%). As is typical for the industry, the proportion of female employees varies depending on function. While this figure is around 45% in both Finance and Marketing, it is lower in Sales at around 25%. The reason for the lower proportion of female employees in Sales is the generally very low number of female plumbers, who are the main customers. The share of female plumbers in Switzerland, for example, is around 3%. In management, the proportion of female employees was 20% (previous year 19%). The six-member Board of Directors has two female members.

In a representative survey carried out in 2022, a total of 74% of employees stated that the company has a diverse corporate culture in place. 66% of employees confirmed that their supervisors show an active engagement or commitment towards diversity. 64% confirmed the presence of discrimination-free surroundings at Geberit, while 66% confirmed that the same opportunities are offered to all (see following figure).

In terms of the age structure, the goal is to have a good mixture of ages. At the end of 2024, 14% of the workforce was under 30 years of age, 41% between 30 and 45, and 45% over 45. Geberit employees work at the company for a long time, averaging 12.2 years of service. The fluctuation rate decreased from 7.2% in the previous year to 6.0% in the reporting year. Senior employees pass on their knowledge to the next generation, and in turn benefit from the new perspectives offered by the young talents.

Promotion of diversity and equal opportunity

Geberit is committed to diversity and equal opportunity – irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, skin colour, age, religion, nationality or other possible grounds for discrimination. This is ensured worldwide as part of the annual review of the Geberit Code of Conduct and is an integral part of the corporate culture.

Geberit pursues a fair and non-discriminatory employment practice. Recruitment, training courses and promotions depend solely on individual experience, as well as skills and potential regarding the requirements of the position in question. In order to ensure equal pay, the proven Korn Ferry Hay method for job evaluation and salary benchmarking is used. All positions are summarised in a Group-wide grading system. The resulting classifications form the basis for determining remuneration. In this way, gender-independent and fair salary structures are ensured. Structured, regular surveys at the local Geberit Group companies confirm that there are no differences between the basic salaries of women and men. Additionally, an equal pay analysis carried out in 2021 at all Geberit companies in Switzerland confirmed that equal pay between female and male employees is upheld. These results were audited and confirmed by the certified auditors PwC.

Targeted measures are implemented to increase the proportion of female employees in the workforce and in management. In order to increase the proportion of female employees in management, they are given preference if qualifications are equal. Moreover, qualified internal female candidates are actively encouraged to apply for management positions. At the same time, Geberit makes efforts to increase the pool of internal female candidates for management positions through systematic tracking of talented female employees. The internal development programmes GROW and LEAD are explicitly aimed at identifying talented men and women within the company, preparing them for their next career step and supporting them along their path to middle or senior management. In 2024, around 100 employees – thereof 30 women – took part in these programmes. Additionally, Geberit is involved in various initiatives and collaborations with institutions and education programmes in order to recruit more women from the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

In addition to the goal of increasing the proportion of female employees in management positions, the general aim is to have heterogeneous teams reflecting a variety of perspectives, experiences and backgrounds. In order to improve the work-life balance across the entire company, support is given to employees who wish to work part time. In countries where part-time working models are in demand, vacancies are usually advertised with a workload of 80 to 100%. Job-sharing models are also offered. Mothers and fathers in Switzerland are entitled to parental leave that goes beyond the legal minimum.

The position of the Geberit Group as a responsible and attractive employer is to be further reinforced. Based on the aforementioned survey on the topic of diversity and equal opportunity, the company’s commitment towards an inclusive working environment has been reinforced across the Group. The defined key topics “Equal opportunity and the reconciliation of working, family and private life” should be further expanded with local measures in order to take country-specific regulations and perspectives into account. For example, maternity and paternity leave will be extended by four and two weeks respectively for all companies in Switzerland from 2025. Additionally, financial support for childcare during the school holidays will also be introduced. Further Group-wide key figures on diversity will also be defined from 2025 as part of personnel reporting and controlling.

Inclusion as part of social commitment

Geberit sees the integration of disadvantaged people in the labour market as part of the company’s social commitment. An inclusive culture is cultivated in which jobs are created for people with disabilities. At the end of 2024, 255 of these inclusive jobs (FTE) were located directly in the company, which corresponds to 2.3% of the total workforce. In addition, external workshops for people with disabilities are contracted for various assembly and packaging jobs. In the reporting year, the volume of work contracted to external partners was equivalent to 358 FTE. In total, 613 people with disabilities worked for Geberit, which corresponds to 5.3% of the entire workforce. For further information, see Social responsibility.

High levels of employee satisfaction

An employee survey carried out in 2021 confirmed that Geberit offers very attractive working conditions and that the employees demonstrate an above-average level of both motivation and loyalty. The next global survey will be carried out in 2025. In the meantime, surveys have been carried out on a local basis. In order to use this instrument even more effectively, so-called pulse surveys were launched in certain countries in 2024 with the help of a new survey platform.

Further efforts in training and education

Together with an external training provider, a leadership development programme was developed in 2022 with the goal of strengthening leadership skills and establishing a consistent management culture.

Partnerships with universities and institutes were further intensified in order to counteract the increasing skills shortage. The local companies are in contact with institutes of technology and universities regarding project-related collaborations to supervise Bachelor and Master theses and to gain students for internships. In the reporting year, 19 students were supervised at the company as part of project work or theses. Geberit is also part of international engineer networks such as UNITECH, which unites renowned European universities, corporates and engineering students.

As part of the Operations Development Programme, young university graduates again started their professional careers at various Geberit production sites in 2024. The goal of the programme is to ensure that the production locations and logistics sites also continue to have highly trained managers at their disposal in future. The programme is aimed at talented external prospects with an engineering or technical background who want to head up strategic projects and take on responsibility during and following the four-year internal training. The Sales Development Programme was also launched in the pilot market Germany in 2024. This is aimed at talented external prospects in marketing and sales with an economics or technical background. The goal is for participants who successfully complete the programme to be able to take on a management position at one of the sales sites.

The two aforementioned internal development programmes GROW and LEAD are designed to specifically identify and promote talents in the company. These programmes are intended to help fill at least half of all vacant managerial positions with internal candidates. In 2024, this was achieved for 63% of all Group management vacancies (previous year 89%).

Geberit employed 283 apprentices at the end of 2024 (previous year 274). The transfer rate to a permanent employment relationship was 63% (previous year 65%). The apprentices should already be given the opportunity to get practical insights at other sites during their training. During a six-month assignment at a Geberit site abroad, they work on various projects or support day-to-day business there. Geberit is convinced that experience abroad and the transfer of know-how are an advantage for both young employees and the company alike. On behalf of Geberit, CEO Christian Buhl accepted the award from the Hans Huber Stiftung (CH) in recognition of the company’s work in the field of vocational training. According to the President of the foundation, which has been dedicated to promoting vocational training in Switzerland for many years, Christian Buhl makes vocational training visible both inside and outside the company and sets the right priorities.

With these training initiatives and the continuous development of its offering, Geberit makes an important contribution to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education (Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations).

Guiding principles for all employees

Geberit aims to act as a role model for ethically unimpeachable, environmentally friendly and socially responsible operations. The Compass – a guide for employees on the mission, values, operational principles and the success factors of Geberit – and the Code of Conduct for Employees serve as the applicable guidelines. The Compass is reviewed as part of the annual strategy process of the Group Executive Board and updated, when required. The publication of a comprehensive, new version of the Compass is planned for 2025 together with accompanying communication measures. The Code of Conduct for Employees, which was last updated in 2015, is currently being revised and will also be relaunched in 2025.

Focus on occupational health and safety

Occupational health and safety has a very high priority within the Geberit Group. The number and severity of accidents are to be halved by 2025 based on the reference year 2015. The AFR (Accident Frequency Rate) is to be reduced to a rate of 5.5 occupational accidents (with absences of one working day or more) per million working hours. The ASR (Accident Severity Rate) is to be reduced to below 90 days lost per million working hours. In the reporting year, the accident frequency decreased to a value of 6.0 (previous year 7.3), which corresponds to a reduction of 17.8%. The accident severity increased by 3.1% to 123.4 (previous year 119.7) in the same period. There were no fatal accidents. Since 2015, the AFR has fallen by 47.4% and the ASR by 40.2%.

All production plants and the central logistics centre in Pfullendorf (DE) are certified in accordance with the occupational health and safety standard ISO 45001. The Geberit Safety System defines occupational health and safety concepts as well as processes that are applicable throughout the Group. There are safety officers at all production plants and the central logistics centre. The Group-wide Geberit Safety Team also plays an active role in developing occupational health and safety systematically throughout the entire organisation. In the reporting year, the implementation of the Group-wide safety standards was continued, and additional cross-site safety audits were carried out.

The creation of safe and clean workstations at the production plants is pursued consistently. Equipment and processes are constantly being optimised, hazardous substances replaced, and dust and noise emissions reduced. Additionally, the increasing use of robots or lifting aids improves the working conditions in terms of ergonomics. As the majority of occupational accidents and time lost are still attributable to carelessness, great importance is attached to long-term training and raising employee awareness. An eLearning programme supports these efforts and helps to identify danger areas in the workplace and rectify them consistently.

It is a matter of great importance that employee health should be promoted. With this in mind, diverse vitality programmes are offered to around 80% of the workforce in the fields of exercise, mental fitness, nutrition and the working environment.