Personnel Expenditure and Salary Model

In 2008, the higher average number of employees resulted in an increase in expenditures for wages and salaries including social contributions by 7.1 per cent to 217.7 million euros (prior year: 203.3 million euros). At the same time, personnel expenses grew disproportionately in relation to the revenue, resulting in an increase of the personnel expenses ratio from 14.7 per cent to 15.2 per cent. The personnel intensity in relation to the gross profit amounted to 60.4 per cent (prior year: 60.2 per cent).

PERSONNEL EXPENSES

    2004   2005   2006   2007   2008
Personnel and social expenditure in million euros   155.7   179.5   192.6   203.3   217.7
Personnel and social expenditure per employee in th. euros 1   49.1   50.4   50.5   50.3   51.6
Personnel expense ratio in per cent   14.3   15.2   15.8   14.7   15.2
1 without staff on parental leave and those doing military or civilian service

As a matter of principle, the salary model of all Bechtle employees consists of fixed and variable components. The amount of the variable compensation depends on the degree of achievement of the targets agreed for the particular field of responsibility. For sales staff, the variable component is calculated according to the amount of the contribution margin achieved, while the revenue serves as the indicator for employees in the service sector. The performance-related compensation of directors is computed on the basis of the achievement of the earnings and revenue targets determined at the beginning of the year.