Viscofan is made up of a large group of people who are spread across eighteen countries in which the company has a presence and that reflect its marked international character. Ana multicultural, competitive, qualified team in constant training, which shares solid values and common ethical principles, despite having different cultures. In short, a rich and complex multicultural environment, which is both a challenge and an opportunity for the international development for all employees.

The average workforce as of December 2019 stood at 4,628 people (nearly 4,900 people if the staff of the companies acquired from Nitta Gelatin Inc. in December 2019 is included), a decrease of 0.3% compared to the average workforce reported the previous year. This decrease is more significant if we take into account that this year's comparison includes the 96 people in Australia and New Zealand from the acquisition of Globus in November 2018 who were not included in the 2018 reporting scope.   

The workforce at the end of 2019 was made upt of 4,713 people, (2.3% higher than the workforce at the end of 2018) of which 3,332 are men (3,274 in 2018) and 1,381 women (1,335 in 2018). In 2019, we do not include the 204 employees of Viscofan Collagen USA Inc. and Viscofan Collagen Canada Inc. that were acquired in December 31, 2019 (156 men and 48 women). In 2018, the reported figure did not include the 98 people from Globus in Australia and New Zealand acquired in that year (76 men and 22 women).

The breakdown of the average workforce by country and their coverage by collective agreements is as follows:

It should be noted that 83% of the members of the senior management team are recruited from the local community, i.e., they were born in the country where they hold their position.

International mobility

International mobility is constant in Viscofan. An example of this is that in 2019 an average of 39 employees participated in international projects, sent abroad for long periods of time (41 employees in 2018). The vast variety of nationalities both at origin and destination is the result of an internationalisation strategy and initiatives to reinforce international mobility and transfer best practices through benchmarking from the Group to all its subsidiaries. In fact, there are numerous projects to transfer knowledge between the different production plants, and to develop specific global training seminars for Group workers.

• One of the Viscofan's objectives is to foster the highest degree of safety in these deployments. To achieve this, there are "Risk Reports" from those countries where we are present, at the production or commercial subsidiary level, which include recommendations, emergency telephones, directory of medical facilities, etc.

• We also continue to invest in new digital tools in the Group's communication that reduce travel time, reduce the risk associated with it and the economic and environmental costs associated with it.

Age

We are committed to young talent: the average age in the company is 42 (41 in 2018).  Of the total of the average workforce, 32% are people under 35 years old, 41% are between 36 and 50 years old, and 26% are over 50 years old.

Also, in line with the ILO Conventions on Child Labour 138 and 182, there are no employees under the age of 14 at Viscofan. 

Quality in employment

Our business model has a marked industrial character: about 50% of the people working in Viscofan are operators and 18% are specialised personnel. Within this industrial context, Viscofan is committed to stable and quality employment, with nearly 93% of the workforce working on a permanent contract and over 98% on a full-time basis.

In a growing team, the policy on staff selection and recruitment is key to ensure continuity in leadership. In this sense, development and recognition of Viscofan Group's staff is being stepped up by listing the company's job vacancies in internal information channels and the intranet. In addition, the attraction talent strategy is pursued through international management tools for selection, hiring, internal mobility and expatriation processes.

Viscofan aspires to be a company where the talent of its employees can develop and reach the highest level. In this sense, several of its corporate directors have been recognised with awards for the best professional career, as is the case of the Group's Financial Director and R&D Director.

Also, Viscofan has 959 employees with university degrees (957 in 2018), of which 40 hold a doctorate (37 employees in 2018). A very high level of training that demonstrates the demand in Viscofan and the means used to achieve excellence in production and maintain the levels of innovation necessary in our activity.