Despite previously announcing plans to reduce its workforce in Germany, DHL Group is actively seeking to hire thousands of new employees to cope with the upcoming holiday season.
According to Thomas Ogilvie, Head of Human Resources, DHL will again recruit additional colleagues to ensure timely delivery of Christmas packages and letters. He told the “Rheinische Post” that while the company will maintain a smaller overall workforce in the annual average, adjusting to the structurally declining volume of letters and parcels, the strategy is to manage personnel levels effectively through natural seasonal fluctuations, scaling up and down as needed.
DHL has employed approximately 30,000 refugees temporarily since the large influx of refugees in the summer of 2015-more than any other company in the country. Currently, around 10,000 individuals with refugee backgrounds are employed in Germany, frequently working in delivery operations, but also as team or site managers. Roughly 350 refugees have completed vocational training programs. Ogilvie highlighted these accomplishments as success stories of professional and social integration.
DHL’s personnel director also acknowledged a higher rates of sick leave in Germany compared to many other countries. However, he dismissed calls to abolish telephone-based sick leave, citing long waiting times for medical appointments and prioritizing preventative measures as key to managing employee health.