Engaging our people

We are an organisation where diverse talents come together globally to apply fresh perspectives and knowledge to make the world more resilient.

Our vision is to offer our employees meaningful work with a clear purpose in an attractive, flexible and inclusive work environment where everyone can contribute. Our organisation is constantly looking for new ways to improve the wellbeing of society and prepare for the changing needs of the future, drawing on the know-how and experience of a diverse, multigenerational group of employees. We look to collaborate in the spirit of “Let’s be smarter together”, convinced that only by doing this we can maximise our full potential. We are passionate about building an environment of trust, respect, collaboration and responsibility, in which how we achieve results is every bit as important as what we achieve.

Swiss Re is a global company with a presence in all major markets and more than 30 countries. As of 31 December 2019, we employed 15401 people (regular staff) from 115 nationalities, equalling 14737 full-time equivalents. 62.1% work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 22.2% in the Americas and 15.7% in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

This represents growth of 3% compared to 2018, mainly in the EMEA and APAC regions, and a reduction in the Americas. It is in line with the evolution of our business and our focus on growth in new markets. The fastest growing locations are our shared service centres in Bratislava, Slovakia and Bangalore, India, which provide us with access to new talent pools.

We have seen an increase in voluntary attrition in the last few years and witness higher attrition rates in markets such as Bangalore and Bratislava where generation Y employees represent 86.7% and 84.7% of the workforce, respectively. The average tenure of Swiss Re employees remains high at slightly more than seven years, testament to the engaging and fulfilling work environment we seek to offer. (For detailed geographical data on attrition rate and tenure, see table to the right.)