Social performance data

Full-time employees by region	2011	2010	2009
Europe	60,300	58,800	60,600
The Americas	25,900	17,700	17,100
Asia	37,400	30,900	29,900
Middle East and Africa	10,000	9,100	8,500
Total	133,600	116,500	116,100

The significant increase in 2011 was partly due to the acquisition of Baldor Electric Company in the United States.



The following numbers of part-time employees are included in the total figures LA1. For 2011, these figures are also shown as percentages of the total workforce in the countries covered by our social reporting system (89 percent of employees).

Part-time employees by region		2011	2010	2009
Europe	2,924	5%	3,133	2,984
The Americas	108	1%	143	92
Asia	106	<1%	183	268
Middle East and Africa	1	<1%	4	112
Total	3,139	3%	3,463	3,456

Rate of turnover of all employees, including part-time:

Rate of turnover of all employees, including part-time: For 2011, the figures show the turnover number, as well as the percentage of the total workforce in the countries covered by our social reporting system (89 percent of employees).

Turnover by region (all employees)		2011	2010	2009
Europe	5,712	10%	11%	10%
The Americas	2,823	15%	16%	23%
Asia	4,615	13%	14%	11%
Middle East and Africa	8543	14%	8%	5%
Total	14,004	12%	12%	12%

For 2011, these figures are also shown as a percentage of the total workforce in the countries covered by our social reporting system (89 percent of employees).

Turnover by region (female employees)		2011	2010	2009
Europe	1,364	2%	1,407	1,439
The Americas	531	3%	631	635
Asia	1,086	3%	1,060	520
Middle East and Africa	184	3%	51	19
Total	3,165	3%	3,149	2,613

As a multinational organization with operations in around 100 countries, ABB has difficulty in providing meaningful information for this indicator. ABB provides competitive salaries and benefits to employees, taking legal requirements into account and benchmarking against other companies. In view of the different legal requirements from country to country and the adverse cost-benefit ratio in producing this information, ABB has decided not to report against this GRI indicator.


Approximately 61 percent of the company’s employees (excluding Baldor) are subject to collective bargaining agreements in various countries. Collective bargaining agreements are subject to various regulatory requirements and are re-negotiated on a regular basis in the normal course of business.

ABB is not in a position to provide Group-wide aggregated information, as the figures vary from country to country depending on local regulations. For the 27 countries of the European Union, ABB is represented on the EU’s European Works Council where such matters are discussed.

ABB has decided to report on the top 10 countries by employee numbers in this section, representing about 60 percent of Group employees. All countries reported figures for 2011 and the full list appears on the ABB website.

We define women in top management positions as women in Hay Grades 1–10, whereas prior to 2010 top management was defined as country management plus the two levels below them. We can now compare figures from country to country on the same basis.

Women were appointed to a number of senior management positions in different parts of the world in 2011. ABB shareholders elected Ying Yeh to the Board of Directors in 2011 to replace an outgoing Board member. She is the first woman to join the Board. Other senior appointments included the heads of Investor Relations, Corporate Strategy, and the Group's solar initiative. Women were appointed to management positions in several businesses, including Power Products High Voltage business units in Sweden and the United States, and as the head of Supply Chain Excellence.

ABB has a Group-wide policy to review at least annually the performance of every employee, providing opportunities to discuss work achievements, set future objectives and provide feedback and coaching.

ABB completed the roll-out in 2011 of a new online tool, covering 90,000 employees in 77 countries. The new system is part of Human Resources Group Tools that run on a common SAP platform and provide a new way of identifying talent within the organization, as well as managing performance and development. Many other employees complete paper-based appraisals.

As at December 31, 2011, ABB’s Board of Directors had eight members – seven men and one woman – of seven nationalities, whereas the Group Executive Committee had 11 members, including one woman, of eight nationalities. In addition, people from 50 countries were among the 600-strong workforce at the company’s headquarters in Zurich.



In ABB, salaries are decided according to the nature of duties performed.

The number of people who took parental leave in 2011 was just over 3,000. This figure was evenly divided between men and women, and varied according to culture and region. ABB is consolidating figures on the retention rates of people who took parental leave, and we expect to be able to publish this data in the 2012 report.






As a multinational organization with operations at approximately
360 sites and offices in more than 100 countries, ABB has difficulty in selecting appropriate countries and providing meaningful information for these indicators. In view of the adverse cost-benefit ratio in producing this information, ABB has decided not to report against these GRI economic performance indicators for the time being.

	Training hours per employee			Percentage of women in management
	2011	2010	2009	2011	2010	2009
Brazil	25	26	28	7%	7%	-
China	34	40	24	25%	25%	-
Czech Republic	11	10	13	18%	19%	-
Finland	13	13	24	15%	17%	-
Germany	16	16	15	7%	4%	-
India	5	4	3	2%	2%	-
Italy	17	17	10	7%	7%	-
Sweden	12	10	10	22%	22%	-
Switzerland	17	20	20	7%	7%	-
US	24	25	25	16%	15%	-