Diversity makes us strong More than 206 000 people work at Deutsche Telekom – and every one of them is unique. This diversity is our strength. For us, diversity means offering our employees numerous opportunities to grow professionally and to develop personally– regardless of their age, ethnic background and nationality, gender and gender identity, mental and physical abilities, religion and world view, sexual orientation or social origin. We are clearly committed to diversity and have a Group-wide approach for upholding that commitment. It is based on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group Policy (formerly “Diversity Policy”), our six Guiding Principles, our Employee Relations Policy, and our Code of Human Rights & Social Principles policy statement.
In one important step towards a corporate culture of inclusiveness, we published a Transgender Handbook in the reporting year that supports an inclusive workplace. The handbook is suitable for everyone and answers questions such as “What support is available regarding transition, coming out, changes at work?” and “What if discrimination is experienced or witnessed?” At the same time, the handbook also serves as a source of inspiration to all employees who want to learn more about this topic or provide support.
We again participated in the German Diversity Day in 2022. The reporting year marked the 10th anniversary of the German Diversity Day which had been initiated by the Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter) association and this time took place under the slogan “Let’s celebrate diversity.” On this occasion, we live streamed a presentation on the subject of social origin, together with other DAX-listed companies from the Rhine-Ruhr region – along with the subsequent panel discussion. Diversity also played an important role at the Digital X digitalization trade fair in 2022: Among other subjects, several presentations were given on the topic “Gender shift and opportunities for gender equality.”
We have been experiencing many changes since 2020 due to the global pandemic and digitalization – including changes in both the workplace and in society. Consequently, we have completely revised our Diversity Policy and implemented it globally in 2022 as our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group Policy. It reflects the ambitions that our company has in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), and also expands our focus to include additional dimensions of diversity – such as health conditions and gender identity. We are working hard to ensure that all people receive the same opportunities, regardless of their personal circumstances. in December 2022, we launched the internal campaign “Connected As One” to roll out the Policy. With this campaign, we want to encourage all employees to enter into dialog with their colleagues and become involved in relevant activities and networks.
Right during the process for hiring new colleagues, we emphasize diversity and consider options other than just traditional educational and life paths. Good examples of such options include our entry-level training scheme for disadvantaged young people and our part-time apprenticeship program. Also, students, including students who are single parents, have the option of completing their cooperative study program on a part-time basis. To ensure that all employees can make the best-possible use of their abilities, we support employees’ work-life balance with an extensive work-life portfolio – with options such as family caregiver leave, lifetime work accounts, time off for education, job-sharing, mobile working, and working from home.
Our commitment to diversity also includes our efforts to promote digital participation through our network operations. We take a number of approaches here to make our networks as accessible as possible. As a founding member of the Diversity Charter business initiative, we want to promote diversity outside the company as well as within it. Unfortunately, diversity efforts are unevenly distributed. The impact assessment of our materiality analysis identified a significant risk of discrimination incidents due to origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity in countries in our upstream and downstream value chains. Violations of our Guiding Principles and corporate values can be reported at any time to our anonymous whistleblower portal “TellMe”, to our threat-management unit, and to our Contact Point for Human Rights. We follow up on every tip-off on violations. We have also implemented a comprehensive supplier management system to address these and other risks in our upstream value chain.
Diversity in figures People from some 125 countries work successfully together at Deutsche Telekom. The average age of our employees was 41.8 years in the reporting year. At the end of 2022, 13.7 percent of employees covered by collective agreements and 17.7 percent of Deutsche Telekom civil servants throughout Germany were working part-time.
All in all in the reporting year, 35.7 percent of our total workforce were women. We have a particularly strong commitment to gender equality, and we have made it a priority for more than two decades. One of our central goals is to increase the share of women in expert and managerial positions; by 2025, we want to have women in at least 30 percent of our leadership positions worldwide. With regard to our legal entities in Germany, we have already achieved this goal on our Supervisory Board (as of Dec. 31, 2022: 42.4 percent) and on the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG (as of Dec. 31, 2022: 37.5 percent). Our middle and upper management positions in Germany are now occupied by women to a degree of 20.8 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively (as of Dec. 31, 2022). Worldwide, the women’s share of our management positions is 28.1 percent (as of Dec. 31, 2022). We have enacted various measures in order to achieve our defined goal of 30 percent.
7.7 percent (as of Dec. 31, 2022) of our employees in Germany are disabled, putting us well over the statutory quota of 5 percent. Almost 2 percent of our apprentices and dual students in Germany are young people with disabilities – that figure, in comparison to the total share of young people with disabilities in our society, shows that we train above-average numbers of young people in this segment as well.
In 2022, our Group Representatives for Persons with Disabilities once again awarded the Inclusion Award within the company for the sixth time. This award honors projects within the company that were carried out in the previous year with the aim of supporting employees with disabilities, and helping to retain them in the company.
Recognition for our performance In the Gender Diversity Index of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), we were once again among the “Diversity Champions” in 2022 and achieved a place among the top five DAX companies for the fourth time in a row. The criteria for the honor included the share of women, and the relevant remuneration ratio, on our Board of Management and our Supervisory Board. In addition, we were included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), with top ratings. The Index tracks the performance of listed companies that have committed themselves to transparency in use of gender-specific indicators. The GEI measures and evaluates gender-equality performance in a total of five areas: Female leadership and talent pipeline; equal pay and gender pay parity; inclusive culture; anti-sexual harassment policies; and pro-women brand. In addition, we were again honored as one of the best companies for women: in an employer study carried out by the magazine Brigitte, looking at aspects such as work-life balance, career advancement, transparency, and gender equality, we were named one of the best companies for women – and received five stars, the highest ranking. In addition, in 2021 – after our first participation in 2013 – we once again took part in the equal pay check of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and were awarded the “eg-check” certificate. This certificate documents that the same or equivalent work by men and women is paid in the same amount: salaries at the company are based solely on the type of work being performed. Aspects such as gender, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation do not factor in at all. Other awards for their commitment to diversity in the reporting year were won by the OTE Group (Bronze prize of the Hellenic Responsible Business Awards for its initiative “A better world for everyone, without discrimination” in the category “diversity, integration, equal opportunity”) and by T-Mobile US (Disability:IN award Employer of the Year, Forbes recognition Best Employers for Diversity 2022, Fortune recognition 100 Best Companies to Work For).
Our contribution to the SDGs
Diversity makes us strong
More than 206 000 people work at Deutsche Telekom – and every one of them is unique. This diversity is our strength. For us, diversity means offering our employees numerous opportunities to grow professionally and to develop personally– regardless of their age, ethnic background and nationality, gender and gender identity, mental and physical abilities, religion and world view, sexual orientation or social origin. We are clearly committed to diversity and have a Group-wide approach for upholding that commitment. It is based on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group Policy (formerly “Diversity Policy”), our six Guiding Principles, our Employee Relations Policy, and our Code of Human Rights & Social Principles policy statement.
In one important step towards a corporate culture of inclusiveness, we published a Transgender Handbook in the reporting year that supports an inclusive workplace. The handbook is suitable for everyone and answers questions such as “What support is available regarding transition, coming out, changes at work?” and “What if discrimination is experienced or witnessed?” At the same time, the handbook also serves as a source of inspiration to all employees who want to learn more about this topic or provide support.
We again participated in the German Diversity Day in 2022. The reporting year marked the 10th anniversary of the German Diversity Day which had been initiated by the Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter) association and this time took place under the slogan “Let’s celebrate diversity.” On this occasion, we live streamed a presentation on the subject of social origin, together with other DAX-listed companies from the Rhine-Ruhr region – along with the subsequent panel discussion. Diversity also played an important role at the Digital X digitalization trade fair in 2022: Among other subjects, several presentations were given on the topic “Gender shift and opportunities for gender equality.”
We have been experiencing many changes since 2020 due to the global pandemic and digitalization – including changes in both the workplace and in society. Consequently, we have completely revised our Diversity Policy and implemented it globally in 2022 as our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group Policy. It reflects the ambitions that our company has in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), and also expands our focus to include additional dimensions of diversity – such as health conditions and gender identity. We are working hard to ensure that all people receive the same opportunities, regardless of their personal circumstances. in December 2022, we launched the internal campaign “Connected As One” to roll out the Policy. With this campaign, we want to encourage all employees to enter into dialog with their colleagues and become involved in relevant activities and networks.
Right during the process for hiring new colleagues, we emphasize diversity and consider options other than just traditional educational and life paths. Good examples of such options include our entry-level training scheme for disadvantaged young people and our part-time apprenticeship program. Also, students, including students who are single parents, have the option of completing their cooperative study program on a part-time basis. To ensure that all employees can make the best-possible use of their abilities, we support employees’ work-life balance with an extensive work-life portfolio – with options such as family caregiver leave, lifetime work accounts, time off for education, job-sharing, mobile working, and working from home.
Our commitment to diversity also includes our efforts to promote digital participation through our network operations. We take a number of approaches here to make our networks as accessible as possible. As a founding member of the Diversity Charter business initiative, we want to promote diversity outside the company as well as within it. Unfortunately, diversity efforts are unevenly distributed. The impact assessment of our materiality analysis identified a significant risk of discrimination incidents due to origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity in countries in our upstream and downstream value chains. Violations of our Guiding Principles and corporate values can be reported at any time to our anonymous whistleblower portal “TellMe”, to our threat-management unit, and to our Contact Point for Human Rights. We follow up on every tip-off on violations. We have also implemented a comprehensive supplier management system to address these and other risks in our upstream value chain.
Diversity in figures
People from some 125 countries work successfully together at Deutsche Telekom. The average age of our employees was 41.8 years in the reporting year. At the end of 2022, 13.7 percent of employees covered by collective agreements and 17.7 percent of Deutsche Telekom civil servants throughout Germany were working part-time.
All in all in the reporting year, 35.7 percent of our total workforce were women. We have a particularly strong commitment to gender equality, and we have made it a priority for more than two decades. One of our central goals is to increase the share of women in expert and managerial positions; by 2025, we want to have women in at least 30 percent of our leadership positions worldwide. With regard to our legal entities in Germany, we have already achieved this goal on our Supervisory Board (as of Dec. 31, 2022: 42.4 percent) and on the Board of Management of Deutsche Telekom AG (as of Dec. 31, 2022: 37.5 percent). Our middle and upper management positions in Germany are now occupied by women to a degree of 20.8 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively (as of Dec. 31, 2022). Worldwide, the women’s share of our management positions is 28.1 percent (as of Dec. 31, 2022). We have enacted various measures in order to achieve our defined goal of 30 percent.
7.7 percent (as of Dec. 31, 2022) of our employees in Germany are disabled, putting us well over the statutory quota of 5 percent. Almost 2 percent of our apprentices and dual students in Germany are young people with disabilities – that figure, in comparison to the total share of young people with disabilities in our society, shows that we train above-average numbers of young people in this segment as well.
In 2022, our Group Representatives for Persons with Disabilities once again awarded the Inclusion Award within the company for the sixth time. This award honors projects within the company that were carried out in the previous year with the aim of supporting employees with disabilities, and helping to retain them in the company.
Recognition for our performance
of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), we were once again among the “Diversity Champions” in 2022 and achieved a place among the top five DAX companies for the fourth time in a row. The criteria for the honor included the share of women, and the relevant remuneration ratio, on our Board of Management and our Supervisory Board. In addition, we were included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), with top ratings. The Index tracks the performance of listed companies that have committed themselves to transparency in use of gender-specific indicators. The GEI measures and evaluates gender-equality performance in a total of five areas: Female leadership and talent pipeline; equal pay and gender pay parity; inclusive culture; anti-sexual harassment policies; and pro-women brand. In addition, we were again honored as one of the best companies for women: in an employer study carried out by the magazine Brigitte, looking at aspects such as work-life balance, career advancement, transparency, and gender equality, we were named one of the best companies for women – and received five stars, the highest ranking. In addition, in 2021 – after our first participation in 2013 – we once again took part in the equal pay check of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and were awarded the “eg-check” certificate. This certificate documents that the same or equivalent work by men and women is paid in the same amount: salaries at the company are based solely on the type of work being performed. Aspects such as gender, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation do not factor in at all. Other awards for their commitment to diversity in the reporting year were won by the OTE Group (Bronze prize of the Hellenic Responsible Business Awards for its initiative “A better world for everyone, without discrimination” in the category “diversity, integration, equal opportunity”) and by T-Mobile US (Disability:IN award Employer of the Year, Forbes recognition Best Employers for Diversity 2022, Fortune recognition 100 Best Companies to Work For).
Reporting against standardsIn the Gender Diversity Index
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)