Diversity and equal opportunities
Concept
Diversity and equal opportunity are key elements of the Group’s human resources strategy
Diversity and equal opportunity make an organisation more flexible and creative. At the same time, the Lufthansa Group’s strategic focus on these issues is also intended to underline its appreciation for its entire workforce. The Group’s employees are indispensable for its global and cross-generational positioning as an employer that acts responsibly and with integrity – now and in the future. This also affects the Group’s support for its existing talent and its targeting of new talent. As a result, legal requirements are fulfilled, and the basic conditions for the Group to remain innovative and capable of change are established. This includes such aspects as mandatory training and the establishment of binding governance for human resources departments in relation to a holistic approach aimed at promoting diversity and equal opportunities.
Equal opportunities are also continuously developed through the role of the equal opportunities commissioner. Projects and offerings enabling employees to strike a balance between personal life and work are being designed, implemented and further developed. Legislative proposals are taken into consideration and the overall and Group works council’s Equal Opportunity committee is also involved in these activities.
Measures are developed which are then implemented, including in collaboration with employee networks. The Power Up empowerment and diversity network is one such employee network. It was established in 2021 and brings together leadership, empowerment and diversity initiatives within the Lufthansa Group while offering an additional platform for communicating events and information. These initiatives are supported by the Executive Board and by managers of various companies within the Lufthansa Group.
The Lufthansa Group supports a balance between work and personal life
The Company has replaced the phrase “Work and family” with “Work and personal life stages” to reflect the variety of demands people now face in planning their lives, as well as demographic trends. The Lufthansa Group uses a broad portfolio of activities to make it easier for its employees to combine work and aspects relating to their particular stage in their personal life. At its Frankfurt and Munich locations, for example, the Lufthansa Group offers Company-subsidised childcare to support employees with children. Throughout Germany, employees have access to a family service portal where they can search for local daycare centres and obtain information about other forms of childcare provided by the Company’s partners. In Germany, this includes help in finding carers, ad hoc and regular daycare places for children and the use of parent-and-child offices if a need arises. Caregivers also have a wide range of advisory options, such as lectures and webinars, as well as telephone counselling sessions. In addition, certain groups of employees have the chance to convert their annual bonus into a period of time off work (sabbatical).
Inclusion of people with disabilities is part of social responsibility
For the Lufthansa Group, employment and inclusion of people with disabilities is not only a legal obligation; it also fulfils a social responsibility. This is why the Group is committed to treating people with disabilities fairly and considerately. Providing targeted support for their professional development is a matter of course for the management boards, human resources management and representatives of disabled employees, who meet regularly to discuss further steps to include people with disabilities. Other forms of assistance are also supported, such as placing orders with workshops for disabled people.
Risk management system established to comply with human rights and environment-related corporate due diligence requirements
As an employer of currently around 97,000 people, the Lufthansa Group is responsible for the concerns of its workforce. This is reflected in areas such as the Group companies’ working conditions, safeguarding freedom of association and assembly, rules to ensure gender equality and the inclusion of minorities as a matter of course. As well as a regular risk analysis covering compliance with human rights in the Group’s operational facilities, a prevention and remedial action portfolio has been developed and integrated within an established process, for use if risks or legal violations are identified. ↗ Combined non-financial declaration, Business ethics and compliance / Respect for human rights
Organisational foundations and responsibilities
The Corporate HR Governance and Employer Branding & Talent Management departments are responsible for managing and processing legal issues associated with the topic of diversity and equal opportunity as well as the Group’s political, strategic and operational positioning. The Corporate HR Governance department is part of the Human Resources & Infrastructure Executive Board area. The equal opportunities commissioner and the Human Rights and Non-Discrimination team are based in this department. The Employer Branding & Talent Management department reports directly to the Executive Board member for Brand & Sustainability.
Targets
Proportion of women in management positions is to be increased
The German Act on Equal Participation of Men and Women in Executive Positions in the Public and Private Sectors (FüPoG II) stipulates that when the executive board of a listed company subject to co-determination has more than three members, at least one must be a woman and at least one must be a man. Deutsche Lufthansa AG meets this requirement. In terms of the proportion of women at the two management levels below the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa, the Executive Board has established targets of 25.7% for the first management level and 30.6% for the second management level. 31 December 2025 was set as the deadline for achieving these new targets.
In addition to the statutory FüPoG II targets that apply to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the Lufthansa Group has voluntarily set itself a further objective. By 2025, the airlines in the Lufthansa Group aim to increase the proportion of female managers to 25%. Managers in this context refer to the executives at Leadership Circle level who are regarded as equivalent to senior managers. This is in line with the goal of the international airline association IATA.
The status of diversity as a strategic goal is to be enhanced
The Lufthansa Group aims to deliver on its promises regarding the cosmopolitan aspect of its brand. For example, it is seeking to expand the internationalisation of its workforce as a further element in its efforts to promote diversity within the Lufthansa Group. Worldwide, the plan is to recruit talent, increase opportunities for switching between different segments and remove barriers for skilled individuals both internally and externally. Some of these barriers may involve communication problems, but they also include differences in statutory requirements or internal rules and regulations. An important aspect in this regard is the continuing establishment of English as a lingua franca within the Group.
The Lufthansa Group positions itself as a company of integrity
Furthermore, the Lufthansa Group aims to create the basis for its employees to realise their potential to the maximum extent. To achieve this, the Lufthansa Group positions itself as a responsible employer that acts with integrity. This includes minimising liability risks and strengthening the zero-tolerance policy within a work environment that is free of discrimination and harassment.
Measures
Focus on diversity as a culture-promoting measure
In the reporting year, the Lufthansa Group launched a cultural programme, Lufthansa Group Cultural Journey powered by Diversity. This is intended to help strengthen the cultural coherence of the individual airlines, businesses and segments, while utilising the diversity of the Group’s companies along with their brands, markets and employees. The goal is to create a modern culture of dialogue and improved communication and cooperation, within both the individual Group companies and the Lufthansa Group itself. For example, all Lufthansa Group managers attend seminars aimed at communicating the Group’s cultural vision. Together with volunteers from the Group’s workforce, a “cultural community” has been established which works collectively on specific issues. One such issue is feedback.
To facilitate communication for both German-speaking and non-German-speaking employees, the Lufthansa Group has been offering the opportunity to learn twelve languages via a digital learning platform since 2023. There is a particular focus on developing linguistic skills in the two key languages of communication within the Company, German and English. In addition, all job descriptions and contracts have also been published or made available in English since 2023.
To make further progress in internationalising the Group, target ratios have been specified for its talent and trainee programmes to ensure a certain proportion of participants from countries outside the Group’s home markets. The targets of 30% for trainee programmes and 10% for internal talent programmes were already achieved in the reporting year. The Globalists talent programme introduced in 2023 is designed to identify international above-average performers interested in a rotation to the Group’s home markets (DACHB). In the reporting year alone, this programme enabled 72 global talented individuals to forge ahead in their careers.
To support colleagues moving to Germany from around the world, the Lufthansa Group introduced its BUDDYMATCH programme in 2023. Via a digital platform, local employees and those moving to a particular location can establish contact with one another within the Company, making it easier for the latter to adapt to their new work and everyday life. The Lufthansa Group supports these tandem arrangements, which pair up an established employee with one who has recently moved to a new location and offers intercultural training programmes to supplement them.
New projects and initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of women with management responsibility
Within the Executive Board project Female Leadership Boost launched in 2021, the Lufthansa Group has set itself the task of establishing the topic of gender diversity in its leadership culture on a lasting basis. The project comprises a broad portfolio of individual development measures for talented women, in addition to a fixed percentage of women on shortlists for management positions. The portfolio includes special programmes for junior managers and networks for them to share their experiences. In November 2023, the eight-month programme NextUp Women was introduced to help women take their next career step towards a management position and provide assistance through a series of modules building upon one another, in which they explore topics such as leadership and carry out a strengths and weaknesses analysis.
Event provides information on digital accessibility and supports greater awareness of inclusion
On Germany’s national Digital Day, the Human Resources department staged a full-day event on the topic of digital inclusion for all of the Group’s employees. The aim of this was to raise awareness of the issues of accessibility and inclusion among the Group’s workforce and to support them via digital aids. All employees of the Lufthansa Group were invited to attend either in person or virtually, with around 600 taking up this invitation. Among other topics, the participants were given an introduction to possible software settings such as read-aloud, dictation and sign-language interpreter functions. These can be used by employees with or without a disability. The event also included reports from disabled colleagues and a discussion with the Group’s inclusion officer and a representative from the Group’s Health Management department on the topics of disability and inclusion.
The Lufthansa Group demonstrates its commitment to openness, tolerance and diversity
With its marketing campaign “The World Says Yes To You”, which ran in the summer of 2023 on posters in major German cities, in magazines and daily newspapers and on social media, Lufthansa Airlines positioned itself as a reliable partner for the LGBTQ community and underlined its commitment to openness, tolerance and diversity. The “Lovehansa” special livery for the Airbus A320neo with the tail number D-AINY from 2022 was originally intended to be displayed for six months. This time limit has been lifted and the livery is now a permanent addition to the Lufthansa Airlines fleet. In addition, the Lufthansa Group supports the Diversifly LGBTQ network, with which employees of various Lufthansa Group companies are affiliated, for example by providing financial contributions and internal infrastructure. In the reporting year, for instance, employees from the network at several Lufthansa Group locations conducted internal fundraising drives to support the German AIDS Foundation.
Performance indicator
Slight increase in the proportion of women at management levels
Overall, the proportion of women in management roles in the Lufthansa Group at the end of 2023 was 22.3%, compared with 20.4% in the previous year. The proportion of women in management roles at the Lufthansa Group airlines was 23.9%.
In line with the German Act on Equal Participation of Men and Women in Executive Positions in the Public and Private Sectors (FüPoG), women accounted for 9.7% of positions at the first management level and 17.8% at the second management level at Deutsche Lufthansa AG on 31 December 2023. By comparison, they represented 9.4% at the first management level and 15.4% at the second management level at the end of 2022.
People from a total of 162 countries worked in the Lufthansa Group in the reporting year.