The working environment at Allianz is currently changing from a former focus on careers in one business line and country to a working environment which is characterized by a high performance culture, increased internationalization and intensified cooperation across operational divisions.

In addition to the benefits of a large enterprise, we offer ample career opportunities, challenging projects and international assignments in the dynamic insurance and financial services fields. Experts from a wide range of companies, functions and countries are participating in the project teams which are responsible to develop the best solutions to drive the strategic initiatives of Allianz Group. Thousands more are involved in the implementation process.

We promote cooperation between employees of different cultural origins and those of different ages, levels of experience and abilities. We believe diversity is the ideal way to boost our capacity for innovation and find viable solutions to varied and constantly changing markets. This is also why we support the international mobility of our staff and managers.

In order to develop and use our employees' expertise more effectively, Allianz attaches great importance to educational opportunities for employees and to sharing ideas and experiences through inter-company relationships. New group-wide standards in Operational Excellence (OPEX) were introduced with the so-called Black Belt Program. This program which one percent of the global workforce will pass through trains managers and experts as certified change managers using the OPEX method which is based on the Six Sigma approach.

Another platform for international collaboration and exchange is our corporate university, Allianz Management Institute (AMI). It offers the expertise and leadership-oriented, management qualification for the Allianz Group. At AMI, we work with renowned universities and research centers to transfer the latest in research and know-how to our management teams. The program is complemented by a wide range of qualification opportunities for all levels of employment.

Our remuneration systems are geared towards offering both managers and staff incentives for implementing the Allianz Group’s business strategy in a targeted and efficient manner, and to contribute to our performance culture. We determine the variable components of salary by agreeing individual targets and then monitoring whether these have been met. In recent years we have steadily expanded the proportion of variable salary components on all levels.

Total payments made by the Group to its employees worldwide amounted to 9.7 billion euros in 2007. Social security contributions, pensions and other additional employee benefits amounted to 2.7 billion euros.

As an additional incentive to contribute to the Allianz Group’s performance, an employee stock purchase offer was again launched in 2007. This gave 122,000 employees in 24 countries the opportunity to acquire Allianz SE shares on preferential terms.

The Supervisory Board of Allianz SE consists of twelve members, giving equal representation to the shareholders and to employees. The employee representatives come from different European countries: four from Germany and one each from France and the UK. In the pan-European SE Staff Council, 39 members from 26 countries represent the interests of employees.