United Internet is aware that an inclusive corporate culture promotes social justice and the well-being of all employees, and that an absence of equal treatment and inclusion can negatively impact society. Awareness-raising promotes equal opportunities, participation, and fair career opportunities for everyone, regardless for example of their gender, age, origin, or individual needs.
The diversity measures taken at United Internet to remedy discrimination and harassment, and to promote equal opportunities as well as diversity and inclusion have been coordinated and enhanced since fiscal year 2020 by a Group-wide project team headed by a central Diversity unit. Since fiscal year 2021, the company has been a signatory of Germany’s Charta der Vielfalt (Diversity Charter) , committing itself to creating a work environment free of prejudice.
A diversity strategy process was launched in fiscal year 2023. This resulted in a diversity mission statement and three strategic focus goals for the Group’s future diversity work. The process included the results of surveys conducted by the HR department; Management Board and Supervisory Board interviews; and surveys of the four internal Diversity Employee Resource Groups (queer.united, Cross-generational Cooperation, the Part-time Initiative, and the International Community). The inclusion of a variety of different stakeholder groups helped boost inclusion of the views and interests of affected stakeholders.
The Mission Statement takes all the dimensions of diversity into account that are also protected by the AGG:
Diversity Mission Statement
Having a diverse workforce and leveraging this diversity add value for our success as a company and our corporate culture. We live up to our social responsibility and have a positive impact by promoting diversity.
For us, diversity affects the following dimensions: age, ethnic origin and nationality, gender and gender identity, physical and mental abilities, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation, and social origin.
Our vision is for a nondiscriminatory diversity mindset to be part of our corporate DNA. This approach can be seen in both our working conditions and our dealings with customers.
The individual United Internet segments are committed to maintaining and strengthening this awareness, e.g., by taking their own diversity measures with the goal of starting a discussion about diversity, promoting education on the topic, and building knowledge about it in the different organizations. The aim is to understand and dismantle barriers to equal opportunities in the diversity dimensions mentioned .
We aim to learn from each other across segments , leverage synergies, and promote enterprise diversity networks .
Because creating diversity and living respectfully is everyone’s responsibility . The Management Board and managers play their part as role models here.
The three focus goals are as follows:
1 The target of 25% is based on a definition of top management as four levels below the administrative and supervisory bodies.
In fiscal year 2024, in line with its first strategic focus goal, United Internet developed a customized e-learning course on the topic of diversity and inclusion, and rolled it out to all segments with the exception of Business Applications. The e-learning course has been available to employees in the Business Access segment since January 2025. It comprises five “learning nuggets” on the topics of “Living diversity – a responsibility for us all,” “Becoming aware of unconscious perception biases,” “Understanding the AGG – fighting discrimination together,” “Organizing inclusion – promoting (dis-)ability awareness,” and “Sensitive language.” The e-learning course lasts approximately 60 minutes and is mandatory for all employees and managers. The plan for fiscal year 2025 is to expand the course to include suitable additional modules for HR employees and managers.
In the Business Applications Segment, the diversity modules that were already published in fiscal year 2023 – Module I “Overview of Diversity” and Module II “Unconscious Bias” – were supplemented by the development of two more advanced modules for managers: Module III “Cultural Awareness,” and Module IV “Managing Diverse Teams.” In addition, Modules I to III were revised to be able to roll them out to all segment employees in fiscal year 2025.
In fiscal year 2024, United Internet held its fourth “Diversity Days” event, a virtual in-house conference with 35 sessions on the topic of diversity. Among other things, the program featured keynote speeches, interactive workshops, reports by staff on their own experiences and lessons learned, and panel discussions. The feedback from the 800 or so employees who took part was extremely positive and it is planned to continue the format in fiscal year 2025. United Internet won the “Impact of Diversity” award in the “Best Company” category in 2023 for its Diversity Days format. This diversity prize is awarded annually by the Impact of Diversity and the Frauen-Karriere-Index (Women Career Index).
As in previous years, the Diversity Days were supplemented once a quarter in fiscal year 2024 by open, virtual Diversity Talks by external diversity experts. Issues included “Living Critically of Racism”, “Neurodiversity,” and “Gender Equity.”
HR employees from all segments were provided with comprehensive information sensitizing them to the topic of “Inclusion and severe disability in day-to-day work” in December 2024. A total of 52 people attended the series of events. The training was a preparatory measure for developing an inclusion action plan in fiscal year 2025. This will focus in particular on the creation of accessible workplaces.
English and German language courses were offered so as to ensure optimum communication on specialist subjects. In addition, employees were given access 1 to an online language-learning portal 2 , which provides training in 18 different professional languages.
1 The degree of access to, and scope of, the language courses can vary between the segments.
2 This offering applies to the Consumer Access, Consumer Applications, and Business Applications segments.
The Company-wide commitment to equal treatment and equal opportunities is underpinned by the Health & Diversity team, which develops core measures and implements them throughout the Group. In addition, managers are required to actively live these principles in their areas of responsibility. Specialized workshops and training courses for managers raise awareness for diversity, inclusion, and a nondiscriminatory corporate culture.
In keeping with its commitment to transparency and equal opportunities, United Internet has defined specific KPIs to ensure that information on recruitment, training, and promotions is continuously updated and monitored. This gives the Company a clear overview at all times of employees’ opportunities for development and advancement. Data on gender, age, and qualifications is collected during the recruitment process so as to ensure diversity and fairness during recruitment. The recruitment and promotion processes are specifically designed so as to use qualifications, skills, and professional experience as core components of human resources decisions.
The importance of diversity is already mentioned in the onboarding events for new employees and managers. Reference is also made to the topic on the internal information platform. Here employees and managers can find statements by the Management Board on the topic, practical tips for ensuring a nondiscriminatory daily working environment, and an overview of all internal diversity offerings. The platform also contains enterprise-wide guidelines for ensuring nondiscriminatory, gender-sensitive visual imagery and language. Comprehensive information on the AGG and the topic of sexual harassment was supplemented on the information platform in fiscal year 2024. In addition, information about diversity topics was regularly provided on the intranet in fiscal year 2024, e.g., in relation to commemorative occasions and memorial days such as the International Women’s Day or the Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The precise figures for United Internet’s employees are given in table form below.
Male
7,390
Female
3,575
Other*
7
Not reported
Total employees
10,972
Number of employees (head count) by Gender 1
2024
1 The figures relate to core employees (head count) as of December 31 of the fiscal year in question. They include apprentices and trainees, student workers, interns, school students, thesis students, and casual workers, but not staff with inactive employment contracts (mainly employees on parental leave).
*Gender as specified by the employees themselves.
Under 30 years old
2,330
21,2
30–50 years old
6,528
59,5
Over 50 years old
2,114
19,3
100,0
Distribution of employees by age group 1
Number
in %
35
14.0
223
86.0
Other(*)
0
0.0
Total
258
100.0
Gender distribution at top management level 1
1 The figures relate to core employees (head count) as of December 31 of the fiscal year in question. They do not include staff with inactive employment contracts (mainly employees on parental leave).
Germany
8,998
Austria
58
Spain
444
France
9
United Kingdom
242
Philippines
504
Poland
319
Romania
284
United States of America
114
Number of Employees per Country 1
Number of employees (head count)
Number of permanent employees (head count)
3,221
6,767
6
9,994
Number of temporary employees (head count)
354
623
1
978
Number of non-guaranteed hours employees (head count)
Number of full-time employees (head count)
2,440
6,711
9,157
Number of part-time employees (head count)
1,135
679
1,815
Information on employees by contract type, broken down by gender 1
8,067
57
431
497
308
269
Total permanent employees
Permanent employees by region 1
931
13
11
15
Total temporary employees
Temporary employees by region 1
United Internet mainly uses temporary employment contracts to fill positions that are temporarily vacant, e.g., parental leave positions.
7,279
39
396
225
311
283
113
Total full-time employees
Full-time employees by region 1
1,719
19
48
2
17
8
Total part-time employees
Part-time employees by region 1
United Internet offers employees a variety of different working time models, e.g., part-time contracts. In this way, the Company enables employees to organize their daily lives flexibly.
Employees with disabilities
259
percentage of female employees with disabilities
2.6
percentage of male employees with disabilities
2.25
percentage of employees with other* gender with disabilities
total percentage of employees with disabilities
2.36
Employees with disabilities 1
1 The figures relate to core employees (head count) as of December 31 of the fiscal year in question. They include apprentices and trainees, studentworkers, interns, school students, thesis students, and casual workers, but not staff with inactive employment contracts (mainly employees on parental leave).
The “persons with disabilities” KPI was calculated as of the December 31, 2024, reporting date. The KPI was determined on the basis of all persons who have reported a level of disability, regardless of how severe this is. It is important to note that employees are not obliged to inform their employer of their disability. Consequently, the KPI is based exclusively on voluntary reporting by the employees. When collecting data on employees with disabilities, United Internet took into account the different legal definitions of disability in the different countries in which the Company operates.
The employee turnover rate for fiscal year 2024 was 15 % , based on 1,677 leaving events in the fiscal year. The turnover rate was calculated as the total number of all leaving events in the fiscal year divided by the average monthly number of employees in the fiscal year.
Leaving events taken into account include employee resignations and dismissals, severance agreements, retirement, expiring contracts, deaths, and departures by casual workers, student workers, interns, and thesis students.
Links
Downloads
