CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

Employment equity

(excluded here are employees at subsidiaries’ manufacturing and business activities outside of South Africa)

Consultative processes dealing with employment equity continue at AECI's businesses and, via relevant steering committees, formal development programmes are in place for the advancement of employees from designated groups.

Designated group representation in top management increased to 22 per cent from 14 per cent the previous year. In senior management, representation declined to 12 per cent from 22 per cent in 2006, and there was a decrease from 42 per cent to 39 per cent in middle management. In large part, this is due to the sale of Dulux and closures at SANS Fibres.

Feedback to AEL on its 2006 employment equity report was received from the Department of Labour. The Department noted its dissatisfaction with progress made. In its 2007 submission, AEL commented that it was unable, with certainty, to commit to a significant improvement in its employment equity status in the short term. Certainly, the attainment of demographically representative percentages in management levels will only be achievable within a longer timeframe owing to the shortage of appropriately skilled people in South Africa. The major challenge is to address representation in middle to senior management.

Efforts to improve employment equity include in-service training, career and succession planning, and recruitment.

In addition to initiatives already discussed, Chemserve again focused its recruitment and promotion practices on addressing demographic imbalances and under-representation of designated employee groups. Substantial improvements in representation are evident in the categories of professionals and technicians, clerical/administration, craft and related trades, and plant supervisors and operators.

% = percentage of employees from designated groups per category
Figures in all the graphics refer to employee numbers.