Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 2023

Diversity is an enormous strength that OMV actively leverages to create business value. OMV strongly believes that culturally diverse teams are more creative, resourceful, and knowledgeable, and that they generate broader perspectives, ideas, and options. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), therefore, have a strong impact on people and teams, improving engagement and job satisfaction, and directly contributing to the Group’s profitability and sustainability.

The OMV Group is therefore expanding its DEI focus to include a broader range of diversity aspects, such as age, nationality, and special needs. Ultimately, OMV’s goal is to encourage and support all forms of diversity in the workforce and create an environment of respect where all employees are valued. This means having an inclusive culture in which the same opportunities and level of psychological safety are in place for all people to feel supported and be successful, regardless of their nationality, gender, age, or social and health background.

As a company active in an industry with a strong technical focus, it is particularly challenging for OMV to achieve a satisfactory gender balance in all fields of business activity. OMV is committed to supporting women’s advancement to managerial positions. The aim is to increase the proportion of women in management roles from 24.4%*Advanced & Executive Level currently to 25% by 2025, and to 30% by 2030, through a number of initiatives such as mentoring, succession planning, specific training, and those that promote a healthy work-life balance.

The proportion of women in the Group as a whole is 27.7% (2022: 27%). A total of 24.4%*Advanced & Executive Level (2022: 21.6%) of employees in management and executive positions are female. In OMV’s leadership development programs, the proportion of women was 42.8% in 2023 (2022: 49%). In OMV’s Upstream integrated graduate development program for technical skill pools, the proportion of women was 27% in 2023 (2022: 21%). Diversity has been incorporated into all leadership development programs and embedded into the OMV People & Culture Strategy.

The OMV Group further strengthened its DEI strategy by establishing a governance framework. The structure includes five volunteer-based workstreams, led by employees across OMV, OMV Petrom, and Borealis. These dedicated workstreams focus on gender, generations, parenting/caregiving, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion, thus ensuring holistic representation.

Throughout 2023, several events were organized to increase awareness of and ambition to focus on our DEI goals. The OMV Group hosted an International Women’s Week, LGBTQIA+ Ally Week, and the International Day of Persons with Disability (Purple Light Up event).

The OMV Group was audited by myAbility, an organization aimed at evaluating and enhancing workplace accessibility and inclusivity for people with disabilities. The audit results were used to create a detailed roadmap to improve work space accessibility for our employees.

The New Parent Program in Austria was continued, focusing on equipping future parents with information on parental leave and part-time models, associated long-term financial aspects, and giving useful tips about returning to work after the leave period. The program’s target group includes all expecting parents to encourage more equal distribution of childcare responsibilities. The OMV Group was awarded the Family-Friendly Employer Award, which reaffirms the organization’s dedication to accommodating the needs of working parents. OMV’s headquarters in Vienna has two company kindergartens attended by children of OMV employees.

OMV promotes talents from different backgrounds, thus ensuring the best mix in diverse teams. OMV especially supports the recruitment and development of women in technical positions.

To enhance communication and knowledge-sharing related to DEI initiatives, the OMV Group created a dedicated DEI SharePoint site. The platform serves as a central hub for employees to access resources, stay informed about ongoing initiatives, and actively participate in fostering an inclusive workplace.

The Executive Board and Supervisory Board consider the described measures and programs for fostering the diversity of the workforce as a key factor in strengthening the diversity of the internal pool of Executive Board succession candidates. The Presidential and Nomination Committee concerns itself regularly with the identification and development of high-potential employees. In addition to internal succession planning, the Supervisory Board also makes use of external recruitments in order to best fill open Executive Board positions. When selecting Executive Board members – be it internally or externally – special attention is paid to the balance of gender, age, and international experience, in addition to professional skills.

Since Daniela Vlad started on February 1, 2023, there has again been one woman on the Executive Board of OMV. As of December 31, 2023, the Executive Board members of OMV Aktiengesellschaft are between 49 and 58 years old, come from four different countries, and have acquired extensive international management experience.

With regard to the election of Supervisory Board members, the selection of potential candidates is based on various criteria, particularly the candidates’ professional skills, personal integrity, independence, and impartiality. In addition, diversity aspects such as the representation of both genders, a balanced age distribution, industry and technical expertise, and internationality of members is taken into consideration.

On December 31, 2023, the Supervisory Board of OMV included six women, corresponding to a share of 40%. In line with the strategic orientation of the Company, particular focus will be given to further strengthening industry-specific expertise and the internationality of the Supervisory Board. With members aged between 43 and 71, the Supervisory Board’s age structure is balanced.