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 in the planning, their 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 6,906 employees at the end of 2024. Compared with the previous year’s total, the number of employees increased by 117, or 1.7 %. In addition, HHLA used an annual average of 553 employees of Gesamthafen­betriebs-Gesellschaft (GHB) (previous year: 530).

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 and remuneration system

Employees by segment

In the Container segment, the number of employees fell to 3,030 as of 31 December 2024. Total headcount was down by 74 year-on-year in the reporting period (previous year: 3,104). This represented a decrease of 2.4 %. Due to the further expansion of services and the increase in vertical integration, headcount in the Intermodal segment rose by a further 159 employees in total to 2,879 (previous year: 2,720). Employee numbers in the Logistics segment increased slightly to 272 in the reporting period (previous year: 269). This was equivalent to an increase of 1.1 %. The number of employees at the strategic management holding company increased by 4.5 % to 623 (previous year: 596). In the Real Estate segment, headcount stood at 102 as of 31 December 2024 (previous year: 100). 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 31.12.2024: 6,906

3,669 employees were based in Germany as of the end of the financial year (previous year: 3,678). This corresponds to a share of 53.1 % (previous year: 54.2 %). The number of staff employed abroad rose by 4.1 % to 3,237 (previous year: 3,111). In Central Europe, headcount increased year-on-year by 3.4 % to 2,077 (previous year: 2,009). The workforce in Estonia increased marginally to 201 (previous year: 196) and in Ukraine it continued to decrease to 346 (previous year: 379).

Age structure

The average age of the staff in Germany in the reporting period was 45.9 (previous year: 45.8). The average age for men was 46.5, whereas women were 43.0 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 42.1. In order to protect the privacy and identity of individuals within the company, HHLA now no longer uses the option “other” for evaluating information about gender.

Length of service

The average length of service with the company in Germany was approximately 15.9 years. The figure outside Germany was 7.3 years.