Employees
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Different ideas and experiences broaden our horizons and make MTU more flexible and innovative. That’s why we promote diversity, equity, and inclusion through an appreciative and inclusive corporate culture.
We are firmly convinced that diversity in its various facets plays a key role in the future viability of our company, promotes innovation and competitiveness, strengthens our resilience to market changes, enhances our performance, and supports our attractiveness as an employer for new talent and the retention of highly qualified employees. Diversity is part of our social responsibility and at the same time opens up huge potential for us as a commercial enterprise.
As part of our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) management system, we shape the topic globally together with colleagues from our sites and continuously drive forward DE&I aspects via short-, medium-, and long-term measures for MTU and society. DE&I is not a buzzword for us, but a business case embedded within social sustainability. New structures are being planned, taking the lead from approaches outlined by the Diversity Charter, the international standard for diversity management (ISO 30415), and the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmark.
Promoting diversity is a key component of our corporate culture and is enshrined in the MTU Principles. To ensure an inclusive working environment within the company, MTU embraces a corporate culture based on respect and appreciation that promotes fair and cooperative conduct. MTU is actively committed to equality of opportunity and equal treatment of all employees and takes a clear stand against discrimination in the workplace. We have laid down these principles in our globally applicable Code of Conduct. We want to assign employees to positions in accordance with their skills, abilities, and performance. All our employees are given the same opportunities regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation or identity. → Code of Conduct We have processes in place that allow breaches of the Code of Conduct or of internal guidelines to be reported to designated points of contact. → These are laid out in detail in the chapter Human rights. What’s more, as a signatory to the UN Global Compact sustainability initiative, MTU has committed to preventing discrimination in the workplace.
Fast facts: #WeAreMore
of our employees are women—and we want to expand gender diversity further at all levels.
nationalities are represented in our workforce. That’s a lot of different cultural backgrounds.
generations work hand in hand at MTU, from baby boomers to Gen Z. That means new ideas paired with a lot of experience.
MTU’s commitment to diversity and equality of opportunity is also demonstrated by its status as a signatory to the Diversity Charta and as a partner company of the Impact of Diversity. MTU supports the Impact of Diversity because it breaks through traditional behavior patterns and stereotypes to open people up to new ideas. We have also once again sponsored the Women in STEM/MINT category for the Impact of Diversity Award 2023, which recognizes companies, initiatives, and projects that are particularly successful in attracting and inspiring a relatively high number of girls and women to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields and promoting the added value of gender diversity in their organization. In addition, we are in constant contact with experts, organizations, and networks on topics relating to diversity, equality of opportunity, and inclusion.
Diversity has many facets
Our DE&I approach takes into account various aspects such as gender, cultural background, age and experience, disability, social background, and sexual orientation and identity. A diversity manager is responsible for DE&I matters throughout the Group and reports directly to the head of People & Culture. The diversity manager works closely with HR policy/strategy and is in continuous communication with local HR departments. The aim is to actively develop and strengthen DE&I within MTU. We provide regular updates on diversity and inclusion in our internal media and via our social media channels. We use training courses and presentations to draw the attention of employees and managers to the positive effects of diversity and an inclusive working environment at MTU, and to raise awareness of unconscious bias and for a work environment free of discrimination.
We support employee resource groups (ERGs), i.e., self-organized networks and groups of employees that promote a diverse, inclusive work atmosphere. These networks offer employees a way to make their concerns visible and provide impetus for collaboration within the company. This helps us better incorporate diverse experiences and perspectives from the workforce into our decision-making. These include the Network of Engine Women (NEW) under the patronage of CEO Lars Wagner and the AeroPride queer network, founded in 2023 under the patronage of Dr. Silke Maurer, Chief Operating Officer.
Commitment to gender diversity
Aviation has always offered numerous career opportunities of a technical nature and is still dominated by men. We choose to drive change, actively promote gender diversity, and set ourselves binding targets. The Executive Board has set a new target of 15% women for the first management level and 20% women for the second management level below the Executive Board by June 30, 2027. By the end of 2023, we had achieved a share of 10.5% women for the first management level and 19.8% women for the second management level. This has already enabled us to realize some potential, although not yet evenly distributed across all areas of the company. We expect the various initiatives we have launched to have a greater impact in the medium term. The development center plays a role in the personal assessment portion of the process for tapping employee potential. In 2023, 35.8% of the center’s positions, i.e. just over one-third, were held by women, which makes us confident that we will be able to further increase the proportion of women in management in the future.
With the appointment of Dr. Silke Maurer as Chief Operating Officer as of February 1, 2023, one of the four members of the Executive Board is a woman. The Supervisory Board has two female members on the employee side and three on the shareholder side. This means the proportion of women on the Supervisory Board increased to 41.7% in 2023. More information available in MTU’s corporate governance report for 2023 (p. 130)
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Proportion of women GRI 2-7, 405-1 |
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2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
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Workforce |
16.7% |
16.4% |
15.6% |
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Managers |
15.5% |
12.9% |
11.8% |
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Apprentices |
16.0% |
15.8% |
14.9% |
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New hires |
20.1% |
21.7% |
20.5% |
Share of women in the workforce and in management positions as a proportion of the active workforce for trainees/apprentices, relating to total workforce; recorded at the end of each year; we do not have figures on the proportion of women by employee group. The proportion of women among new hires by region is shown in the Notes.
When it comes to the proportion of women in the workforce, we see an ongoing upswing over recent years. The current share is 16.7%. We succeeded in increasing the Group-wide proportion of women across all management levels to 15.5% by the end of 2023. We actively consider diversity, equity, and inclusion when filling positions and selecting new employees. Women made up 20.1% of new hires across all hierarchical levels, which is higher than the current proportion of women in the company. Of the employees completing an apprenticeship at MTU, 16% were women.
The Executive Board is kept regularly informed about the measures that have been initiated to promote equality of opportunity as well as gender diversity. In addition, it presents a report on equality at the works meeting at the German sites once a year. In Germany, the works council is involved in decisions subject to co-determination, such as flexible working time rules.
The principal focus of our initiatives is to secure more female employees for the company, identify and promote female talent, and offer female employees greater support throughout their careers. To this end, we participate in mentoring programs, such as the cross-mentoring programs in Munich and Berlin-Brandenburg.
The Women’s Career Index (FKI) honors employers who have made a special contribution to diversity and inclusion projects on a national and international level. We are delighted that we have again been selected as one of the top 10 award-winning companies in 2023—even as we recognize that we still have much to do.
In addition, we are involved in educational initiatives aimed specifically at young female talent. For instance, we are a member of MINTvernetzt, a German STEM initiative that strives to inspire more women to pursue qualifications and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Since 2023, MTU has also been a partner organization of the Klischeefrei initiative, which advocates for career and study choices free from gender stereotypes.
Programs and initiatives (in-house and external)
- Network of Engine Women
- Member of MINTvernetzt
- Partner organization to the Klischeefrei Initiative
- Cross-Mentoring Program in Munich and Berlin-Brandenburg
- The MTU “Studienstiftung” foundation for female students in scientific and technical fields
- Girls’ Day
- Niedersachsen Technikum
- Munich Memorandum for Women in Management
LGBTQ+ community at MTU
As an early signatory to the Charter of Diversity, since 2010 MTU has been committed to creating a working environment that is free from prejudice, one that recognizes and supports people’s diverse potential. We want to be a positive example of diversity and inclusion, to create a culture of impartiality, and to ensure all employees have equality of opportunity in the workplace. This integrative approach includes employees who feel they belong to the LGBTQ+ community (LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, with the + representing others such as intersexual, pansexual, and asexual as well as allies, i.e. supporters and friends. We also use the term “queer” as a shorthand for this diversity). Any person at MTU around the world should be able to openly declare their sexual orientation or gender identity without experiencing any disadvantages as a result.
Individual talent should be able to unfold within a respectful and appreciative environment with an emphasis on solid performance and personal commitment. We support public initiatives to prevent bullying and discrimination, for instance by participating regularly in Pink Shirt Day in Canada and observing Pride Month to combat homophobia. We also express our appreciation for our employees in inclusive language, which we use in our internal and external corporate communications. We support AeroPride, the queer employee network that creates safe spaces for queer issues within MTU, e.g. via elected persons of trust, and offers opportunities for dialogue and education via Ask Me Anything events.
Inclusion of people with disabilities
MTU is committed to diversity in all its dimensions. Our open corporate culture, characterized by appreciation, is based on integration and cohesion. As part of our inclusion efforts as an employer, we recognize the importance of integrating employees with disabilities. At our sites in Germany, we have elected representatives for employees with severe disabilities as well as dedicated inclusion officers who act as points of contact for issues relating to disability. They are committed to issues relating to inclusion and set up important structures to this end. Our sites, and especially new buildings, are designed with accessibility in mind. For deaf colleagues, we offer sign-language interpreters for communication in the work environment. In addition, we view it as a matter of course for us to live up to our social responsibility by explicitly encouraging people with disabilities to apply for a job with us. If requested, we can ask a trusted member of the representative body for employees with severe disabilities to be involved in the application and recruitment process. We plan to expand the scope of our inclusion efforts in the future.
In 2023, the proportion of our employees in Germany with disabilities was 4.6%. We have been able to recruit many new employees for MTU in recent years, but we still see potential to attract even more candidates and thus comply with the statutory quota of 5% employees with severe disabilities.
Cultural diversity
As a globally active company, we consider internationalization to be a key dimension of DE&I. Our engine business has a global outlook, and having an intercultural workforce helps us to succeed in different markets. We promote internationality and intercultural understanding, e.g. through intercultural training, cross-site dialogue formats, and postings to sites abroad. Secondments to our international sites form an important part of our HR policy for promoting intercultural skills. Apprentices are also given the opportunity to gain international professional experience.
is the number of nationalities represented by our workforce, their unique cultural backgrounds making our teamwork successful.
We have strong roots in Germany, but our character draws on a variety of cultural backgrounds: In 2023, our employees represented 88 different nationalities. We take an active stand against xenophobia and discrimination and in favor of diversity and equality of opportunity, for instance as part of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Cross-generational collaboration
Cross-generational collaboration makes it possible to combine valuable experience and new impetus in a productive way. We believe in good relations between young and old, and we take age diversity into consideration in our company. At our company, four generations work hand in hand—from baby boomers to Gen Z, the youngest generation to enter the job market. We are meeting certain challenges such as knowledge management that are associated with our aging workforce in Germany and the fact that people are working longer from career entry to retirement. To secure the long-term performance of our employees, we operate a company health management system (→ Occupational health and safety). Employees in every age group receive equal access to training and development. We offer a variety of career opportunities geared toward younger generations: apprenticeships, dual work-study programs, trainee programs, and development programs for high-potential employees (→ Employee development). The interests and needs of young employees in particular are also represented by an elected youth and apprenticeship council. New recruits and young talent can exchange information via the informal in-house “Young Professionals” network.
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Age groups GRI 405-1 |
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2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
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< 30 years |
17.5% |
17.3% |
16.2% |
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30 – 50 years |
57.1% |
55.8% |
55.1% |
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> 50 years |
25.4% |
26.9% |
28.6% |
Measured in terms of active workforce, at year-end in each case; for composition of workforce sizes, see the GRI Index
