Employees and Pension Obligations

As of September 30, 2020, the Covestro Group had 16,626 employees worldwide (December 31, 2019: 17,201). Personnel expenses were down by €30 million from the prior-year quarter to €389 million in the third quarter of 2020 (previous year: €419 million). This was mainly due to lower provisions for short- and long-term variable compensation.

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Employees by corporate function1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec. 31, 2019

 

Sep. 30, 2020

Production

 

11,162

 

10,811

Marketing and distribution

 

3,314

 

3,148

Research and development

 

1,217

 

1,219

General administration

 

1,508

 

1,448

Total

 

17,201

 

16,626

1

The number of employees on either permanent or temporary contracts is stated in full-time equivalents (FTE). Part-time employees are included on a pro-rated basis in line with their contractual working hours. Employees in vocational training are not included.

Provisions for pensions and other post-employment benefits increased to €2,031 million as of September 30, 2020 (December 31, 2019: €1,965 million). In particular, this was attributable to a lower discount rate in the United States. A positive change in the value of plan assets partly compensated for this development.

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Discount rate for pension obligations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dec. 31, 2019

 

Sep. 30, 2020

 

 

%

 

%

Germany

 

1.00

 

1.001

United States

 

3.00

 

2.20

1

A third-party consulting firm has been calculating the discount rate for pension obligations in the euro area using a standard methodology since the first quarter of 2020. Without the change in calculation procedure, the discount rate would have been at 0.90% for Germany as of September 30, 2020.