13. Personnel expenses

Personnel expenses

in € thousand

 

2018

 

2017

Wages and salaries

 

332,089

 

314,181

Staff deployment

 

73,353

 

66,233

Social security contributions and benefits

 

67,717

 

77,216

Service expense

 

6,898

 

5,674

Other retirement benefit expenses

 

523

 

513

 

 

480,580

 

463,817

The direct remuneration paid to members of the Executive Board totalled € 2,955 thousand for the 2018 financial year (previous year: € 2,936 thousand). More details on the remuneration paid to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board can be found in Note 48.

Social security contributions include payments towards the public pension scheme amounting to € 28,286 thousand (previous year: € 27,636 thousand) and payments to the German pension insurance scheme. The increase in personnel expenses in the year under review is due to increases in union wage rates, the higher number of employees and increased demand for external staff. The previous year’s social security contributions and benefits include expenses for the organisational restructuring in the Container segment.

Service expense includes payments from defined benefit pension commitments and similar obligations.

Average number of employees of fully consolidated companies

 

 

2018

 

2017

Employees receiving wages

 

3,048

 

2,879

Salaried staff

 

2,665

 

2,595

Trainees

 

65

 

79

 

 

5,778

 

5,553

In addition, the Group used an annual average of 760 employees (previous year: 710) of Gesamthafenbetriebs Gesellschaft m.b.H., Hamburg (GHB).