Human team

Viscofan is made up of a large team of professionals in 22 countries where the company is present, reflecting its marked international character. A multicultural, competitive, qualified team in constant training, which shares solid values and ethical principles, despite having different cultures. In short, a rich and complex multicultural environment, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for the international development for all employees. 

People

The average workforce in 2023 was 5,346 employees, an increase of 0.5% (29 employees) on the average workforce reported in the previous year. Of this workforce, 3,797 are men (3,783 in 2022) and 1,549 are women (1,534 in 2022).

At 2023 year-end, the workforce comprised 5,332 employees (3.2% less than the workforce at 2022 year-end), of which 3,761 are men (3,899 in 2022) and 1,571 women (1,611 in 2022).

The breakdown of the average workforce by country and their coverage by collective agreements is as follows:

As part of Viscofan's internationalisation strategy, every year various initiatives are implemented in the area of international mobility to strengthen the exchange of the Group's best practices to all subsidiaries through benchmarking. In fact, there are numerous projects to share knowledge between the various production plants, and to develop specific global training seminars for Group workers. 

International mobility within the Group remained stable, with an average of 33 employees that participated in international projects and which were posted abroad for a long duration (34 in 2022). Likewise, short trips were adapted to the travel guidelines and the travel restrictions imposed by the company. Faced with this scenario, Viscofan reinforced investment in technology and new digital tools to overcome the travel restrictions and to reduce the risk and the economic and environmental costs associated therewith.

In this regard, it should be noted that 59% of the top local managers in the countries where Viscofan has a production or commercial company are recruited from the local community, i.e. they were born in the country where they hold their position.

Age

The team combines young talent and experience. The average age of the staff is 42 years. Of the total of the average workforce, 31% are people under 35 years old, 43% are between 35 and 50 years old, and 26% are over 50 years old.

Likewise, in line with the rules of the International Labour Organisation that appear in the Conventions 138 and 182 on child labour, Viscofan does not employ children under 14. 

Hiring and professional category

Our business model has a marked industrial nature: 51.5% of those working at Viscofan are operators and 17% are specialised personnel. Within this industrial context, Viscofan is committed to stable quality employment, and 91% of the workforce have permanent contracts and 98.5% are full-time workers.

In a growing group, talent management policies such as selection and recruitment, training and career development are key to ensuring leadership continuity. In this regard, these areas are being promoted, with the updating of talent management policies and the development of internal employee communication channels (People channel) through which employees can access the company's job offers. Likewise, the attraction of talent is promoted through various Employer Branding activities, including the promotion of relations with different educational centres and the offer of internships at international level, for which the Viscofan Global Graduate Program was created in 2022.

Viscofan aspires to be a company where the talent of its employees can develop and reach the highest level. In 2023, Viscofan was recognised by Institutional Investor, in its Developed Europe Executive Team awards, as Best Investor Relations (IR) Professional and Best Investor Relations Team, within the Small/Mid Cap category of the Paper & Packaging sector. It was also mentioned in the top 3 for Best IR and ESG Programmes. In the All Caps category of the same sector, Viscofan came second in the awards for Best Investor Relations Professional and Best Investor Relations Team and came third in the awards for Best IR Programme.  

Also, Viscofan has 1,134 employees with university degrees (1,137 in 2022), of which 45 had a doctorate (44 employees in 2022). A very high level of training that demonstrates Viscofan's rigorousness and the means used to achieve excellence in production and maintain the levels of innovation necessary in our activity.

Equality and work-life balance

Viscofan's employment environment enables the professional and personal development of all people that form part of the company, integrating them and allowing them to participate in the company's future regardless of their race, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion or nationality, among others.

The high percentage of men (71%) compared to women (29%) continues to be significant. A similar percentage to that of the companies in the sector.

Commitment 2030: Promotion of female talent and professional development

Increasing the weight of the less represented gender is one of the challenges that we face, especially with respect to the retention, development and promotion of female talent. That is why we have set ourselves the target of 30% women in management by 2030. 

Talent management identifies opportunities to incorporate the under-represented gender, both with internal and external candidates, in those positions that are foreseen in the future based on vacancies, growth opportunities or within the succession plan. 

The trend in the objective is as follows:

In 2021, the III Equality Plan for Viscofan SA and the I Equality Plan for Viscofan España SLU were approved, both with four-year terms (2021-2025), in which areas of improvement were detected, and different objectives were set to achieve equality and a work-life balance at the company, and the measures and/or actions were envisaged to obtain such balance in all the analysis areas detailed in RD 901/2020 which regulate the equality plans, as well as adding others that are considered fundamental to correctly develop and implement the plan and, in this regard, the Group has a negotiating committee charged with its promotion and follow-up. 

This III Equality Plan of Viscofan SA is based on the evaluation of the previous plan, with an analysis of the actions performed and implemented or pending performance. Likewise, since the end of 2020, unbundled data was gathered by gender, in line with the new legal regulations, pursuant to RD 901/2020 and RD 902/2020 on remuneration equality, thereby including a remuneration audit. 

To promote diversity, Viscofan works with special employment centres in Spain and in other countries to perform certain tasks that contribute to the development of our production activity. It also employs people with disabilities. It also employs people with functional diversity. The breakdown of this heading is as follows: 

Furthermore, in the area of equality, Viscofan has joined the CEO alliance for Diversity, a pioneering initiative in Europe, in which a total of 91 male and female executives have participated in the whole of Spain. Following the mission of uniting the CEOs of the main companies around a common innovative vision of diversity, equity and inclusion, acting as promoters and ambassadors that help to accelerate the development of strategies that contribute to business excellence, the competitiveness of talent in Spain and the reduction of inequality and exclusion in the Spanish society. The participation of Viscofan in the alliance involves its presence at meetings and symposiums, all in line with the commitment of going into depth in our policies and strategies of diversity, equity and inclusion, seeking synergies among different member companies.

In addition, the Viscofan Group participates as a collaborating entity and a member of the Management Committee of the Observatory of Conciliation and Joint Responsibility of Universidad Pontificia de Comillas. 

Viscofan's work centres contribute to human development, basing themselves on a culture and shared values, and where they offer conditions that facilitate collective talent, the exchange of ideas, innovation, contrasted opinions and shared initiatives. 

The executive Sustainability Committee has analysed the tendency of the workforce by gender, monitoring the universal leave for the birth of children and the death of spouses and children, even in countries whose legislation does not provide for this, and no work disconnection policies were envisaged.

Employment and remuneration

Workers are a key part of the Viscofan Group's success and leadership. Their constantly evolving commitment and work and improvement represent a clear competitive advantage for the Group. 

In 2023, the workforce increased very slightly and improvements in efficiency and productivity allowed us to improve the revenue per employee ratio. 

The average workforce increased by 0.5% in 2023 as opposed to 2022, situating the net variation in employment ⁽¹⁾  at 29 people. The net variation in employment by category, gender and age is broken down as follows:

The importance of these stakeholders - the employees - can be seen in the generated and distributed value table. In 2023, employees received €231 million of the total value generated by the Group (€236 million in 2022).

The necessary training in the production process, the strategies for creating long-term value, and the high level of commitment of the people who make up our team are reflected in the voluntary redundancy rate of the average workforce for 2023, which stands at 3.13% (3.5% in 2022). 

The Group's business activity requires adapting to various market needs in the different locations, under criteria of competitiveness and efficiency, which in some cases, requires workforce reductions. 

The breakdown of average layoffs was 31% higher than in 2022. The subsidiaries that recorded the most average layoffs are: Brazil (22), USA (43), Czech Republic (12), Mexico (31) and Canada (10).

Remuneration

The contracting policy of the Viscofan Group is based on objectivity, equal opportunities and training, and one of its aims is to favour gender diversity, among other aspects. This implies competitive remuneration, adapted to the capacities and competences of the different profiles required according to the industrial or commercial process, and also according to the realities of the multitude of countries in which Viscofan is present.

Average annualised gross remuneration ⁽²⁾ expressed in euro per category and age is as follows:

^{*Excludes executive directors' remuneration in 2023 and 2022}

^{(2) Gross remuneration excludes remuneration to executive directors, expatriates and those who cannot be standardised in an annual remuneration because of their special nature.}

Within the area of remuneration, 70% of the company's employees are covered by general collective bargaining agreements, therefore improving the minimum conditions set by the different employment legislation. Collective Bargaining Agreements regulate the remuneration received by the workers who sign them, and in particular establish criteria of equity between similar jobs, thus avoiding gender discrimination and the wage gap between equivalent jobs. The Group's average remuneration is €37,002 (€36,805 in 2022): €40,125 for men (€40,215 in 2022) and €29,545 for women (€28,525 in 2022). This difference in average remuneration corresponds to a multitude of factors, from the gender composition of the Group, to its geographical presence, the different distribution of jobs, their level of specialisation, the night shifts for a continuous production process of 24 hours, danger and seniority bonuses, etc., which are in line with the industrial context, the composition of the workforce and the history of the Viscofan Group.

In order to be able to carry out internal monitoring of possible gender-based pay differentials, the guidelines of the job evaluation project carried out in Spain in 2021 have been followed, with the aim of identifying comparable grades, i.e. those which, due to the nature of the functions or tasks effectively entrusted, the educational, professional or training conditions required for their exercise, the factors strictly related to their performance and the conditions in which these activities are carried out, are equivalent. This analysis was performed with the help of the consultant Willis Tower Watson, which enabled up to 21 equivalent degrees to be identified within Viscofan.  

Based on this experience, the equivalent in degrees was analysed internally for all the companies included in the scope of consolidation. Hence, the remuneration by degrees and gender was analysed in the different towns, to identify salary gaps, understood to be the difference between the fixed salaries of men and women with respect to the fixed salary of men in each of its degrees. Based on this analysis, the Sustainability Committee can monitor the performance of this indicator in the most significant degrees and therefore be able to establish the measures for its improvement.

The result of this analysis is summarised in the salary gaps per country, understood to be the weighted average of the remuneration differences between the salary of men and women with respect to all female employees of that country:

* Excludes workplaces with a gender representation of less than 5%.

If we compare the last two years, the most significant changes in the wage gap have occurred in Costa Rica (4.5% in 2023 vs. -84.5% in 2022), New Zealand (-1.2% in 2023 vs. 4.8% in 2022), Thailand (-8.0% in 2023 vs. -16.1% in 2022), UK (-22.9% in 2023 vs. -9.9% in 2022) and Uruguay (13.2% in 2023 vs. 6.1% in 2022), in commercial branches with small staff sizes and individualised salary conditions. In addition, in order to provide comparable information, the table presented excludes from the calculation those centres where one of the two genders is under-represented (less than 5% of the workforce), which is the case in Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

The individual remuneration of all members of the Board of Directors is detailed in the Annual Report on Remuneration in section 4 of this Management Report.

Moreover, the Group makes contributions to various different defined benefit plans. The significant information is set forth in note 14 to the consolidated financial statements.

Professional development

We promote people's personal and professional development through different initiatives that allow us to manage knowledge and take advantage of employees' abilities to achieve the group's objectives. 

Likewise, the industrial nature of Viscofan requires the combination of a large number of operators with specialised staff. This is an increasingly demanding and global industry in terms of requirements, which requires greater knowledge and expertise of the workforce. To take on this challenge, the Group constantly invests in staff capabilities, added to the continuous training effort carried out in the organisation.

Continuous training is one of Viscofan's primordial goals for its personnel, thereby boosting personal and professional development. The methodology has changed, with training through 
e-learning platforms, both at corporate and local level, which have allowed continuity to be given to training activities that could not be given face-to-face. Over the past year, work has been carried out on the development of Viscoacademy, with the aim of housing all the group's training on a single platform, thus promoting knowledge sharing.

As part of this continuous training, 2022 saw the start of the global roll-out of the Leadership Programme, an education and training programme aimed at establishing a common leadership model in the Group, aligned with the company's values. In 2023, this programme has continued, with more sessions being held in Spain, the USA and China, as well as at corporate level. In these sessions, training has been provided in skills such as: Viscofan DNA, constructive feedback, communication with the manager, and teamwork.

For management levels, the Operational Leadership Programme has been developed. It started in November 2023 in Spain, and is expected to be deployed in the rest of the subsidiaries during 2024. This programme addresses people management from a more day-to-day point of view: the Viscofan leadership style, performance management and communication styles, among other topics.

In 2023, the Transversal Leadership Programme, launched in 2022, continued at corporate level. This programme is aimed at people who, although they do not have a hierarchical team, need to drive and manage people in the organisation to achieve the desired objectives, mainly with regard to cross-cutting projects.

For all this commitment to human capital training, the group has invested €1.34 million 
(€1.35 million in 2022), of which €0.26 million (€0.26 million in 2022) correspond to training and explicit awareness in health and safety (more information in the workplace safety section).

Within the training plan, subjects related to aspects of human rights have been addressed, such as the use of non-sexist language, corporate social responsibility, gender equality and sexual harassment, for a total of 2,585 hours, compared to the 3,539 hours invested in 2022.

The number of training hours by category are broken down as follows:

The total number of hours dedicated to training reported in 2023 has increased by 21% compared to the previous year, highlighting the increase in training for specialised personnel and operators.

Facilitating training is one of the most effective measures to encourage professional development within the Group. The new processes and vacancies at Viscofan are notified internally so that the people that wish to can set themselves new challenges and goals at the company itself, strengthening and preserving the talent of the human team.

Looking towards promoting employment, the Group also fosters participation in the main universities of the countries in which it carries on its activities. Within the objective of attracting and developing talent, in 2022, there were an average of 40 internships (44 in 2022).

In 2023, 45% of the Group's staff was subject to a performance assessment process, compared with 44% in the previous year. The breakdown by gender and professional category is as follows:

In line with the development of a high-performance culture, in 2023, Viscofan continued to work on a more digital and collaborative workspace in the whole Group, the Modern Workspace, through the implantation of innovative solutions that adapt to the different user profiles at Viscofan (personnel at offices, at the factory or commuting), and which will enable the teams to work more effectively thanks to the adoption of new tools, platforms and work methodologies. 

Occupational safety

Viscofan works with the belief that it is possible to avoid all occupational accidents. Hence, it not only ensures that its facilities are safer, but also that its staff throughout the whole Group are aware of the fundamental importance of safety issues. A reality that has also been latent in 2023, due to the urgent need to protect the teams at all locations at which Viscofan is present and to ensure strict compliance with the prevailing safety measures with respect to COVID-19.  

Corporate workplace safety policies are overseen by the Operational Sustainability department, in close collaboration with the corporate and local Human Resources departments. To a large extent, this coordination has enabled the immediate application at all subsidiaries of the safety measures and protocols necessary at all times among the workforce, which has permitted Viscofan to maintain its production activities at its factories.

It has boosted measures and investments to improve the employment conditions of our workers and to obtain reliable and consistent indicators to measure and compare performance in the various countries in which the Group operates. The best health and safety practices are thereby extended to the production centres.

In 2022, several improvements were made in the field of occupational health and safety and these have continued to be made in 2023: implementation of fire protection projects in Pando (Uruguay), Weinheim (Germany) and České Budějovice (Czech Republic); renewal of pleating machines in the group, including safety improvements. In addition, the investigation of any incidents and the drawing of lessons for dissemination to the rest of the group is encouraged through monthly meetings of the corporate Operational Sustainability department with all subsidiaries.

For Viscofan, the material aspects that affect safety are essentially based on the characteristics of the position and the activities that are required. This explains the constant effort of Viscofan to standardise procedures and distribute them among the workforce with regard to the company's safety policy, providing workers in this regard with specific courses and information in their areas of work. 

In order to carry out these initiatives, the Group has an Occupational Health and Safety policy which establishes the following relevant guidelines:

• Provide employees with a safe and healthy workplace.
• Identify and comply with applicable legislation and regulation in terms of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) in each of the locations where the group does business, and any other voluntarily-acquired commitments of Viscofan to improve these areas.
• Ensure that management, employees and all staff working for the organisation (or on its behalf) are aware of this policy and are trained, according to their responsibilities, to comply with it.
• Alongside this, certain specifications are determined within the collective bargaining agreements of the different locations in which the Viscofan Group is present in matters related to health and safety. In turn, the participation of employees in health and safety matters is guaranteed at all factories through health and safety committees (in which the company's risk prevention procedures are regularly and frequently consulted), suggestion boxes, as well as other communication channels established. 

The performance of the health and safety indicators of the Viscofan Group is as follows:

^{1.  Hours lost per accident/Hours worked
2.  Number of equivalent days lost per accident per thousand hours worked
3.  Number of accidents per million hours worked
4.  Hours lost per illness or accident/Total hours worked}

In 2022, the accident rate criteria were revised and standardised across the Group, indicating those occurring at the workplace and excluding those occurring in itinere and occupational illnesses. In 2023, the same criteria established in 2022 will be maintained. 

In 2023, accidents in the group have decreased (105 in 2023 vs. 137 in 2022), as well as their severity, with a severity index of 0.18 (compared to 0.32 registered in 2022). The accident rate decreased by 0.12 p.p. compared to 2022. The number of occupational diseases remained the same as in 2022, with 5 cases.

Reducing the accident rate is one of Viscofan's priority objectives in the field of health and safety, which is why it has set itself the target of reducing the accident rate by 50% by 2030. The variations in the ratio on a baseline of 100 for 2018 are as follows: 

A reduction in the accident rate has also been set as an objective within the Long-Term Variable Remuneration Plan for Viscofan's senior management and key personnel, reflecting the number of hours lost due to accidents with respect to the total number of hours worked. 

Training in accident prevention and about the importance of safe behaviour patterns is one of the cornerstones of health protection of our employees. This training includes basic prevention measures that have to be adopted in the workplace, or the importance of day-to-day heart-healthy habits, the role of middle-level management and the improvement of its leadership in safety. 

The breakdown of the number of hours of training in this area is as follows:

In order to meet the organisation's occupational health and safety commitments as set out in the Group's policy, our plants operate Health and Safety Management Systems based on the guidelines issued by the corporate department and certified according to the ISO 45001 standard, the international benchmark for occupational safety management systems. Most of our plants are currently certified or have plans for certification in the short term (2024).

The details of the Group's factories that already have these certificates is as follows: