Strategy
ESRS 2 SBM-2 – Interests and views of stakeholders
The Lufthansa Group places great emphasis on an open, continuous and trusting dialogue with its internal and external stakeholder groups, and actively seeks exchanges with them through a range of different dialogue formats. A cornerstone for the dialogue with its own workforce is the Group-wide employee survey “involve me!”, which regularly provides important insights on key topics.
Based on this annual survey, a wide range of measures are initiated across the Group. The perspectives of employees from the survey are evaluated and subsequently integrated into the human resources strategy. In addition, a continuous exchange is maintained with the co-determination bodies, whose views are also taken into account.
ESRS 2 SBM-3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with strategy and business model
The human resources strategy forms an important component of the Lufthansa Group’s corporate strategy. It sets the priorities for the coming years in order to best prepare the workforce for the future. The Lufthansa Group reviews both its corporate strategy and its human resources strategy annually in view of current events and continuously develops them further.
Materiality assessment identifies impacts on a variety of topics
Employees and temporary workers of the Lufthansa Group are the primary focus of the impacts discussed in the materiality assessment. Under the German Law on Labour Leasing (Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz) and EU Directive 2008/104/EC, temporary workers receive “equal pay for equal work”, meaning they are treated on par with permanent employees. The material impacts, risks and opportunities mainly concern the following topics:
- Flexible work organisation and working time models
- Adequate wages and collective bargaining agreements
- Social dialogue and trade unions
- Health and safety at work
- Diversity, equality and inclusion
- Training and development
- H&S management (hazard and security management)
- Pandemic
- Data security
- Social protection
With the ongoing transformation and modernisation of the Lufthansa Group, sustainable employability remains a key focus of the human resources strategy. The Lufthansa Group promotes lifelong learning and long-term employability through training and development. Since 2022, the Company has launched additional training and support programmes, in particular in relation to the environment. For example, the Green Mobility Trainee programme enables participants to each work on three sustainability projects at different companies within the Lufthansa Group over an 18-month period. This programme took place for the second time in the reporting year. The Green Explorer learning and engagement programme also took place once again during the reporting year. 150 selected above-average performers took part and qualified as multipliers and driving forces for the promotion of sustainability in everyday business operations. Topics such as sustainable product development, customer engagement and the use of sustainable materials were covered. The Lufthansa Group observed no negative impacts on its own workforce from these initiatives.
Additional impacts on employees relate to human rights. The Lufthansa Group Human Rights Office conducts an analysis of potential negative impacts affecting more than 280 Lufthansa Group companies and operational sites within its business area on an ad hoc basis and at least once annually. The analysis employs specialist software that enables sufficient identification, assessment and prioritisation of risks across a large number of entities. In line with the German Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG), the negative impact of forced labour pursuant to Section 2 was explicitly accounted for in the analysis. In addition, Deutsche Lufthansa AG is subject to the reporting obligations under Section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (UK Modern Slavery Statement) and under Section 13 of the Canadian Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act.
Material impacts from business operations solely affect employees and temporary workers of the Lufthansa Group in the first instance. German contract law distinguishes between employees and suppliers with service or work contracts. Suppliers operate under different conditions and are consequently less protected than Lufthansa’s own workforce. The Lufthansa Group recognises that employees and temporary workers face different risks than the external workforce. The Lufthansa Group is aware of these risks and takes them into account. S2 – Workers in the value chain.
If crises or conflicts, such as wars, pandemics or civil unrest, occur in third countries outside Germany, cockpit and cabin crew in particular may be affected. Based on its risk assessment, the Lufthansa Group takes specific security measures in response that may lead to the suspension of flights. To date, no negative impacts associated with such incidents have been observed.
The Lufthansa Group has defined measures for cooperation and efficiency improvements
The Lufthansa Group employs a Group-wide cultural initiative to promote cooperation across hierarchies and companies for more efficient and flexible business operations. Furthermore, cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measures are taken to create the conditions for generating reasonable profits on a long-term basis.
Risks were identified mainly in relation to collective agreements and employer attractiveness
Labour disputes: There is a general risk of labour disputes as a result of pending collective bargaining agreements with various groups of employees within the Lufthansa Group. Notably, this risk affects flight operations of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Lufthansa Cargo AG as the no-strike period for the collective bargaining agreements on retirement benefits for cockpit staff expired on 31 December 2024. From that point on, the framework agreement for cabin staff at Deutsche Lufthansa AG has been open again. Both the collective wage and framework agreements for Lufthansa Cityline’s cockpit personnel are now open too.
Lack of cooperation from works and collective bargaining partners: Trust and effective collaboration with employee representatives are crucial to the Lufthansa Group’s success. Numerous measures once again contributed to this goal in 2024. Market changes made further reorganisation necessary at Deutsche Lufthansa AG and shone a spotlight on the economic performance of the Lufthansa Group and on retaining and recruiting employees in the relevant home markets in 2024, with hiring needs expected to remain. This means the Group has to be attractive as an employer, which is another focus for the 2024 financial year and a key focus of our human resource work. The challenge lay in implementing organisational changes at the speed necessitated by the economic environment and the labour market in order to remain adaptable. A trusting relationship between the works council and the executive board has a vital influence on decision-making on operating matters. A lack of trust can result in delayed decisions and tougher negotiations. To counteract this and improve collaboration with labour union partners, numerous measures were implemented across the individual companies. Adopted measures included full-day exchange formats (for example, labour union partner dialogues) and regular meetings between management and the works council.
Focus on employees: In order to drive commitment and become more attractive as an employer, the employment conditions for staff were revised in cooperation with the collective bargaining partners. The Lufthansa Group deliberately uses its employer branding and human resources marketing activities to support additional hiring and is making improvements to its recruitment process and certain key elements of its employees’ experience, for example, their onboarding. Various apprenticeships, student and trainee programmes are offered to this end, and talents in a variety of groups were supported and systematically cross-linked. Furthermore, an assortment of professional development programmes is offered to enable employees to work on their personal and career development.
Staff structure: Differences between strategic human resource requirements, the existing skill sets of employees and how they are distributed across the companies in the Lufthansa Group constitute a structural personnel risk. Both the administration of recruitment activities and the professional integration of new employees posed great challenges for the organisation. There was a risk of frustration at long recruitment processes and inefficient onboarding. The Lufthansa Group addressed this risk across the Group with a recruitment working group, strategic human resource planning, the development of a skills model and by strengthening employer branding and recruitment.