Employees
Our success derives from our employees – from their pioneering spirit, curiosity and diversity. As an attractive employer, we support them in their development and promote an inclusive company culture.
Progress requires people, innovation requires diversity
We work to achieve technological progress that benefits us all – and we’ve been doing that for more than 350 years. This would not be possible without our employees. Their expertise, scientific curiosity and ideas make us successful – and ensure our competitiveness and future viability. In order to attract, promote and retain talent, responsible entrepreneurship is a must. We promote individual career paths and focus on a culture of lifelong learning.
We are convinced that the more diverse our people, the more inclusive our working environments are, the better we can master future challenges. It's simple: Diversity, equity and inclusion drive progress, innovation, and are good for business.
We foster a good working environment through fair and respectful interaction with one another. We do not allow discrimination, physical or verbal harassment and intolerance at the workplace. We respect human rights worldwide and are committed to fair labor and social standards. Our Social and Labor Standards Policy summarizes the specifications of our Human Rights Charter and our Code of Conduct with regard to labor and social standards.
Last but not least, we have a special duty of care for our employees. Their health and safety are our top priority and we are doing our part to make it easier for our employees to reconcile work and family life.
Life is colorful – We are, too!
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63K
The curiosity and passion of our employees contributes to our success.
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141
Living diversity: People from 141 countries work for us.
Developing and Leading
As a company, our success relies on the curiosity, courage and inventiveness of our employees. This is why we want to attract, promote and retain talent.
The career paths we offer are as individual as our employees. We support their personal and professional development in line with their strengths, ambitions and competencies, thereby laying the groundwork for an enriching and challenging career with our company.
Good managers give our talent the space to reach their full potential, to develop themselves and come up with new ideas. That is why we place great importance on the continuing education and training of our people managers. We have developed special programs to strengthen their competencies. These impart leadership basics, successful change management skills and expertise for successful international cooperation.
Our position on diversity, equity & inclusion
For us, DE&I is not optional, but a business and people imperative. It is the uniqueness of our people that brings science, curiosity, and our high-impact culture to life.
We recognize the true value of diversity and an inclusive culture, and work to identify and eliminate barriers that may hinder our employees’ contributions or ability to thrive. We nurture an environment where there is a strong sense of belonging for all so that we can drive the best outcomes. Together, we are building an inclusive culture where we care about one another, we all feel welcome, our different voices are heard, and we all belong.
An inclusive work environment benefits both our teams and our business. The more we embrace diversity, the better prepared we are to respond to the diverse needs of the patients and customers we serve around the world. At Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, this is part of our culture.
Our employee networks
A safe and healthy workplace
Whether in production, administration or the laboratory: We do everything to protect our employees from accidents and occupational illnesses and strengthen their health and wellbeing. Our basic approach to occupational safety and health protection is set out in our EHS Policy (EHS: Environment Health & Safety). Experience shows that most accidents can be avoided by correct behaviors. We promote this, for example, through our BeSafe! safety culture program. Through this initiative, we raise employee awareness of workplace dangers and teach them rules for safe behavior. Our EHS managers at our sites are always working towards this. They analyze the conditions at the workplaces and train our employees on workplace hazards and ergonomically correct behaviors.
The physical, social and mental health of our employees is very important to us. Therefore we have developed and rolled out BeHealthy – our global employee health program. BeHealthy sets a global standard for employee wellbeing and includes three high-impact initiatives. It is about healthy leadership culture, being mindful with ourselves and others and getting active together.
Low injury rate
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<1.0
By 2025, we want to bring our Lost Time Injury Rate below 1.0.
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1.3
In 2023, our Lost Time Injury Rate was 1.3 (2022: 1.2)
Work-life-balance
We value the individuality of our employees and take their individual life situations into account. Whether part-time models, working time accounts or sabbaticals: Our employees in many countries can flexibly arrange their working hours and work location. Reconciling professional and family life presents many employees with major challenges. That is why we offer our people numerous possibilities ranging from generous parental leave and childcare to assistance in finding nursing care for family members.
JOIN OUR TEAM AND BRING YOUR CURIOSITY TO LIVE.
Curious? Get to know our “sustainables”!
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Umbrella Project
Find out moreOur Director of Sustainability, Till Langner, and Senior Sustainability Program Manager, Kristin Balk, talked about the Sustainability program “Umbrella Project” …
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Green Solvents
Find out moreOur US Technical Service Manager David Rennie talks about Green Solvents and how they can boost the sustainability of chip production…
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Supplier Decarbonization
Find out moreOur Head of Sustainable Procurement, Verena Buback, talks about the Supplier Decarbonisation program