Personnel Figures

The increase is primarily down to the consolidation of the fashion house Schild AG. Due to the consolidation of Inter Chalet Ferienhaus GmbH, an increase was also recorded in the strategic business unit Travel. The Migros Cooperative Zurich took over the Molino restaurants in 2014. The workforce was further increased by the acquisition of Oak Leaf Confections Co. and SweetWorks Confections LLC by Chocolat Frey AG. Only very sporadic reductions in staff levels were recorded in the individual companies.

Seen over several years, the period from 2011 to 2014 shows consolidated employment growth of almost 14%, despite the bleak economic environment for much of this time.

Within the Migros Group, Cooperative Retailing plays an identity-forging role. It employed around two thirds of all staff in 2014. In Switzerland, around 320'000 people are employed in retail, of which almost 20% work at Migros. Measured by the number of employees, the other business units also play a major economic role. For instance, M-Industry employs a quarter of all people working in the Swiss food industry. Furthermore, around 12% of all employees in Switzerland's travel industry work in the strategic business unit Travel.

The net fluctuation rate (voluntary staff departures) of 5.8% is slightly up on the previous year's figure.

The comparison of the average hiring rate and the average gross fluctuation rate over the past five years shows that the departures have been fully compensated by new staff.

In 2014, the Migros Group employed 60'374 women and 37'082 men. The proportion of women was therefore around 62%. The average for the Swiss economy is significantly lower (45.4%). In the three strategic business units Cooperative Retailing, Commerce and Travel, the proportion of women stands at between 64% and 76%.

In the Migros Group, 52.4% of employees work full-time and 47.6% part-time. On the Swiss labour market, 36% work part-time.

At 43.9%, the proportion of female full-time employees within the Migros Group is very high in comparison to Switzerland as a whole (29.2%). The proportion of women working part-time within the Migros Group (around 82%) is also higher than the figure for the Swiss labour market (76.5%).

Around 62.8% of women employed within the Migros companies work part-time. For men, the part-time employment rate across all age groups is around 23%. Within the Migros Group, the part-time employment rate for men is therefore almost 50% higher than in the Swiss economy as a whole. The part-time employment trend among men can be seen both at Migros and on the Swiss labour market as a whole.

At Migros, there is a balanced age structure across all employed age groups, from trainees through to those approaching pension age. The average age of the workforce is 39.2 years.

The proportion of male and female employees per age group is identical as a whole. When considering the age distribution among men and women, the proportion of women in the age group of 15 to 40 years is higher than for men.

Some 58% of men and 54% of women have worked at Migros for more than five years, whereby men (10.6 years) stay slightly longer than women (9.1 years) on average. These values put Migros at the Swiss average, i.e. 55% of employees with five or more years of service.

The proportion of women in the workforce across all length of service categories is above average. This is reflected in the high proportion of women in the workforce.

In the reporting year, 72% of Migros' workforce consisted of Swiss nationals, and 28% of foreign nationals. People from 150 nations were employed at Migros in 2014. Migros sees this cultural diversity as an opportunity and therefore consciously promotes it with a tolerant and discrimination-free corporate climate.

13.8% of the 97'456 employees work abroad. The proportion is slightly up on the previous year.

Migros as an employer:

• attractive employment terms
• fair wages with above-average salary growth
• generous pension benefits

Personnel costs

Real wages at Migros rose by an average of 1.0% as of 1 January 2014. Migros increased its nominal wages by 17.0% and its real wages by 11.3% between 2004 and 2014. Wages in the Swiss private sector rose by 12.9% in nominal terms and by 7.2% in real terms.

The employees play an important part in the contribution that Migros makes to the economic value added in Switzerland. As a result, they also make up a major proportion of the social value added. In 2014, Migros spent around 74% of its net value added on its employees.

Wage equality

The employee management development remuneration system (M-FEE) of Migros consistently implements in practice the principle of "equal wages for equal roles, performance and experience". The tool has a gender-neutral design. The principle not only promotes equal wages for women and men, but also applies in general within Migros.

It ensures role, performance and distribution equality for wages and wage adjustments as the basis of a transparent, clear and fair wage policy.

Employee pension plans

The Migros Pension Fund (MPF) organises the occupational pensions for the policyholders of 43 associated companies of the Migros Group based on performance. Some 52'400 active policyholders and 29'200 pensioners are managed.

The MPF provides excellent pension benefits: For a full term of cover, the target benefit is 70.2% of the insured salary at the normal retirement age of 58 for men and women. For over-25s, the employer contribution is 17% of the insured salary, and the employee contribution 8.5%. Migros covers two thirds of the contributions and therefore lies well above the Swiss average.

The MPF also offers policyholders attractive purchasing possibilities to improve pension benefits as well as various options in the event of retirement, such as early retirement from the age of 58, semi-retirement alternatives (in agreement with the employer, retirement can be delayed beyond the age of 64) and freely selectable withdrawal options in place of a pension.

Due to a successful investment year with an overall performance of 7.0% and a coverage ratio of 121.5%, the Migros Pension Fund is in a good financial position.

Supplementary benefits

Migros emphasises its position as an attractive employer in Swiss retail with attractive additional benefits.

The companies of the Migros Group grant their employees numerous discounts and favourable terms on many different products and services.

In the event of death, Migros will cover the cost of a special life insurance policy which pays the employee's bereaved family members up to three annual salaries. This benefit is available to both unmarried couples and same-sex couples