Diversity

Employees at work (photo)

OMV is committed to its diversity strategy focusing on gender equality and internationality. Diversity is an enormous strength that we are actively leveraging by creating diversity-based business value. It has therefore become a strategically important goal with two measurable targets in our Sustainability Strategy 2025: gender equality and internationality. The focus on diversity is one of the key pillars of our People Strategy, which has been defined under the strategic priority of leadership as “Inspiring leaders – building high-performing, diverse teams.” To achieve this goal, we have embedded diversity targets into our people processes, such as recruitment, talent and succession planning, learning, and leadership development. We continuously monitor gender, age, employee background, seniority, and salary equality to ensure fair treatment and equal opportunities at all career levels. At the same time, we strive to continuously develop new initiatives and measures that promote diversity and equal opportunity at OMV. In 2019, we defined a joint action plan between business functions and the HR department to strengthen diversity throughout our organization by:

  • Engaging and raising awareness through specific actions and initiatives to support professional progress for female employees
    • Diversity Network: a self-organized Group-wide network that raises awareness of specific needs, provides support, and builds a strong network within the Company
  • Maintaining and improving a work environment that helps female employees be their best by supporting work-life balance and parenthood
    • In some countries, we have in place OMV daycare, summer camps, flexitime, home office, 16 flexible part-time models, “stay connected” guide, job sharing
  • Providing tailored trainings and information to leaders and employees to ensure gender balance at OMV
    • Unconscious bias e-learning course, advanced mentoring for women, and women in leadership pilot training
    • To encourage leaders to create an inclusive work environment, the unconscious bias topic has been included in our leader programs.

OMV is committed to its diversity strategy
focusing on gender equality and internationality

OMV Group diversity strategy (graphic)

Considering the fact that we operate in an industry with a strong technical focus, it is particularly challenging for OMV to achieve a balanced gender ratio in all areas of business activity. The proportion of women in the Group as a whole amounts to 26%.

To encourage gender diversity, our recruitment policy reflects our commitment to promoting equal opportunities: At least one female candidate is included in every shortlist for each position. Internationality, another focus of our diversity strategy, is integrated into the recruitment process by highlighting the advantage of recruiting candidates with professional international experience. Our diversity targets are also embedded in succession planning, with a preference for female candidates when identifying top talent. (For more details on the succession planning process, see Succession planning.)

We support women in technical training at the early pre-professional stage. The proportion of women in OMV’s Upstream graduate development program1Integrated Graduate Development (IGD) in Upstream is designed to train technical graduates in the field of petroleum engineering over the course of three years. for technical skill pools was 27% in 2019 (25% in 2018). To get young people interested in technical professions, we organized activities in kindergartens and schools, such as Girls’ Day (for more details, see Community Relations and Development).

OMV has committed itself to supporting the advancement of women in management positions. The strategic objective is to achieve the best diversity mix at management level. By 2025, we aim to increase the proportion of women in management positions from 19.6% to 25%. To achieve this goal, we anchored diversity in leadership expectations and in all leadership initiatives. In OMV’s leadership development programs, the proportion of women was 26% in 2019 (28% in 2018). Our development activities include, for example, mentoring for female leaders and specific trainings on unconscious bias2Unconscious bias training explains the role of stereotypes and how they can influence behavior in employment and careers. and decision-making. Gender is one of the diversity criteria we apply when selecting members of the Supervisory Board and of the Executive Board. (For additional information, see the Annual Report 2019.)

Sustainability Strategy 2025 targets

Increase share of women at management level3Management level: executives and advanced career level to 25%4Figure excludes the following legal entities: Gas Connect Austria GmbH, Avanti GmbH, and DUNATÀR Köolajtermék Tároló és Kereskedelmi Kft. by 2025

Keep high share of executives5Executives are defined as Senior Vice Presidents. with international experience6International experience: equal to or greater than three years of living and working abroad at 75%

Status 2019

  • Share of women at management level: 19.6%
  • Executives with international experience: 77%

Action plan to achieve the targets

SDG 5 – gender equality (icon) SDG 10 – reduced inequalities (icon)

The plan is embedded in OMV’s People Strategy. Building diverse teams is one of our leadership expectations. Implementation of the joint action plan aimed at:

    • Engagement and raising awareness
    • Facilitating a work environment that supports female employees
    • Enabling development of the workforce with the objective of facilitating gender balance


We raise awareness of diversity by embedding it in our existing leadership development programs. In 2020, we are planning additional events, such as speaker series based on diversity success stories.

We support increasing the proportion of women in senior management positions through a range of initiatives, such as mentoring, succession planning, specific trainings, and our recruitment policy. Initiatives to increase work-life flexibility and country-specific programs, such as company daycare and summer camps for school kids, facilitate the balance between work and family life.

The process of executive recruiting includes the criteria of internationality in the assessment of candidates.

1 Integrated Graduate Development (IGD) in Upstream is designed to train technical graduates in the field of petroleum engineering over the course of three years.

2 Unconscious bias training explains the role of stereotypes and how they can influence behavior in employment and careers.

3 Management level: executives and advanced career level

4 Figure excludes the following legal entities: Gas Connect Austria GmbH, Avanti GmbH, and DUNATÀR Köolajtermék Tároló és Kereskedelmi Kft.

5 Executives are defined as Senior Vice Presidents.

6 International experience: equal to or greater than three years of living and working abroad