Headcount and personnel structure

The recruitment process used by the individual companies of HHLA in Germany is monitored by the HHLA manpower planning team. Proposals to create additional jobs are examined for their consideration of planning and necessity as well as other options for filling positions internally or taking alternative action. This ensures that recruitment does not exceed the strategic HR needs planning for individual companies approved by the Executive Board and that synergy effects can be utilised within the Group.

Number of employees

Employees at the HHLA Group

as of 31.12

HHLA had a total of 6,641 employees at the end of 2022. Compared with the previous year’s total, the number of employees increased by 197 , or 3.1 %. In addition, HHLA used the services of an annual average of 705 employees at Gesamthafenbetriebs-Gesellschaft (previous year: 624).

The three-year average headcount trend is one of the targets agreed with the Executive Board and is taken into account when determining Executive Board remuneration. Achieving the agreed target range triggers the payment of a corresponding bonus. Remuneration report und remuneration system

Employees by segment

In the Container segment, the number of employees fell to 3,072 as of 31 December 2022. Total headcount was down by 77 year-on-year in the reporting period (previous year: 3,149). This was equivalent to a reduction of 2.4 %. Due to the expansion of services and the increase in vertical integration, headcount in the Intermodal segment rose by a further 245 employees in total to 2,555 (previous year: 2,310). Employee numbers in the Logistics segment also increased to 271 in the reporting period (previous year: 253). This represented an increase of 7.1 %. The number of employees at the strategic management holding company increased by 1.1 % to 652 (previous year: 645). In the Real Estate segment, headcount amounted to 91 as of 31 December 2021 (previous year: 87). This figure includes employees from the management holding company who are assigned to the Real Estate segment.

Employees by region

Employees by region

Number of employees as of 31.12.2022: 6,641

In geographical terms, the workforce was concentrated mainly in Germany, with 3,682 employees (previous year: 3,674), the majority of whom worked in Hamburg. This corresponds to a share of 55.4 % (previous year: 57.0 %). The number of staff employed abroad rose by 6.8 % to 2,959 (previous year: 2,770). In Central Europe, headcount increased year-on-year by 7.0 % to 1,899 (previous year: 1,774). The workforce in Estonia decreased marginally to 208 (previous year: 212) and in Ukraine to 412 (previous year: 473).

Age structure

The average age of staff in Germany in the reporting period was 45.5 (previous year: 45.2). Male employees had an average age of 46.1, while female employees were 42.6 years old on average. Over half of all employees were aged between 30 and 50. As in the previous year, the average employee age at the foreign companies was 42.0.

Length of service

The average length of service with the company in Germany was approximately 15.8 years. The figure outside Germany was 7.9 years.