Employees and Teams

At HUGO BOSS, we firmly believe that the passion and dedication of our employees are vital for the successful execution of our “CLAIM 5” growth strategy. A strong commitment to empowering people and teams is therefore firmly anchored in “CLAIM 5,” guided by our HUGO BOSS values entrepreneurial spirit, personal ownership, team mentality, simplicity & quality, and youthful spirit. Our values serve as the foundation for day-to-day cooperation. They foster a spirit of mutual trust, thereby promoting creativity as well as fast and rigorous execution. The aim is to create an environment that enables all employees to develop their individual talents and thus directly contribute to the success of “CLAIM 5.” On top of that, HUGO BOSS strives to maintain its positioning as one of the most attractive employers in the fashion industry. This, in turn, should enable us to attract the best talents in the sector. Group Strategy

As an international company, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is a fundamental element of our corporate culture. At HUGO BOSS, all employees are guaranteed a discrimination-free working environment with equal opportunities and an inclusive work culture. At the same time, DE&I is at the heart of our journey to make a positive impact on our industry, as reflected by our Company’s bold mission statement “We Love Fashion. We Change Fashion.” Organizationally, the important topic of DE&I is firmly anchored in the Global Employee Experience department as part of Global Human Resources, with the Global DE&I team focusing on further raising awareness of DE&I throughout the Company. In addition, a diversity task force of employees with multiple backgrounds and from various locations and functional areas supports the execution of defined measures and promotes selected topics within the Company. To amplify awareness of our inclusive workplace, we launched the MIX & MATCH initiative in 2023, bundling numerous internal and external measures aimed at promoting and fostering a culture where differences are celebrated. 2023 also saw the implementation of additional employee training on diversity and inclusion, such as “anti-discrimination and anti-harassment,” “unconscious bias,” and “inclusion in action.” We are convinced that intensifying our DE&I activities has a positive impact on employee satisfaction while also considering it as a relevant factor by potential applicants. Combined Non-Financial Statement, Employee Matters

Attracting talents

HUGO BOSS aims at further strengthening its position as a top employer in the global fashion industry. This is intended to enable us to continue attracting the best talents for HUGO BOSS. In general, the global employer branding campaign “That’s my HUGO BOSS” builds a core element of our recruitment activities, aimed at drawing the attention of talents around the world to the broad range of activities and diverse personalities at HUGO BOSS. On top of that, the Company also runs dedicated employer branding campaigns to further attract specialists in key areas such as IT and Digital, paying off directly on the Company’s vision to become the leading premium tech-driven fashion platform worldwide. Our global recruitment strategy centers around the HUGO BOSS Careers website, offering several digital features like a chatbot and tailored job recommendations for a first-class digital experience. Furthermore, talents are recruited by means of directly approaching qualified candidates via business-focused social networks. In this context, HUGO BOSS launched its corporate influencer program “Creators Club” in 2023, as part of which a select group of HUGO BOSS employees from various locations regularly share diverse and authentic perspectives on life and work at HUGO BOSS, thus aiming to further increasing employer attractiveness. On top of that, we regularly present ourselves to potential applicants at career fairs.

To attract young talents, we offer school graduates, students, and young professionals a variety of different programs, including a diverse range of apprenticeships as well as a broad selection of dual study programs. In 2023, there were a total of 82 apprentices and dual students at HUGO BOSS AG (2022: 94 apprentices and dual students), with 36 new apprentices and dual students having started their professional education during the year (2022: 33 new apprentices and dual students). The professional education we offer young talents is tailored to our business-specific needs and is continuously aligned with our strategic priorities. In particular, we have expanded our selection of apprenticeships in the important area of digital in recent years, including offerings such as Digital Commerce Management and IT Specialist education. At the same time, we also expanded our range of dual study programs in 2023 to include Global Commerce Management, Business Fashion Management, and Data Science & AI. Internships and the “HUGO BOSS CareerLunch” offer further opportunities to get young talents interested in working at HUGO BOSS during their studies. The latter aims to bring us together with top talents in an informal setting and thus attract potential applicants to HUGO BOSS through internal Company insights.

At HUGO BOSS, we seek to constantly improve our external reputation and awareness among potential applicants. Consequently, we conduct active reputation management on relevant rating platforms and social networks. Target group-specific and product-related campaigns are intended to evoke interest and enthusiasm for our Company. Various awards are proof positive for our successful HR work while, at the same time, serving to increase awareness among potential applicants. In the “Working in Fashion 2023” study conducted by the German industry magazine TextilWirtschaft, we once again took third place, thus maintaining our strong ranking. Within the study, HUGO BOSS was ranked first in terms of the Company’s future potential and second in the categories of salary levels, opportunities for promotion and training, and attractive products. Furthermore, within the global study “World’s Best Employers 2023” by Forbes and Statista, HUGO BOSS improved its ranking significantly in 2023 and, for the first time, made it into the top 200 globally. In addition, based on an independent study in collaboration with Statista and the Financial Times, HUGO BOSS was able to maintain its strong midfield-position among the Top 50 Diversity Leaders in Europe in 2023.

Retaining and developing employees

Our employees are crucial to the success of HUGO BOSS. In addition to attracting new talents, we therefore place a strong emphasis on retaining talents and supporting them in their individual development. Besides a fair and market-oriented compensation as well as attractive benefits offered to our employees, HUGO BOSS attaches particular importance to a common and supportive leadership mindset within the Company as well as various opportunities for individual development.

HUGO BOSS regards fair pay as an essential aspect of our personnel work and aims to strengthen the loyalty of our employees to the Company by means of a fair, transparent, and competitive compensation structure. Based on a regular assessment of all jobs in Germany as well as international key positions, the vast majority of our employees are remunerated based on job-specific salary bands. These are based on external salary benchmarks, covering several sectors, and are intended to further increase transparency. Over the past few years, HUGO BOSS carried out an assessment of almost all positions worldwide to establish a uniform compensation system based on Group-wide salary bands. This is intended to ensure that our global compensation system is fair, competitive, and independent of gender or other diversity characteristics. In 2023, the HUGO BOSS Managing Board further strengthened its commitment to fair pay by signing a global Fair Pay Commitment, which was made available to all employees on the Company-wide intranet. Overall, we regard fair remuneration as a key factor to further increase both employee satisfaction and our attractiveness as an employer.

HELLO Teams

The passion and dedication of our teams are vital for the success of HUGO BOSS. By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion we enhance creativity and foster innovation.

Learn more Learn more

Our compensation system includes fixed and variable salary components, bonuses above the collective bargaining scale, non-cash compensation, and other benefits. It complies with industry and collective bargaining agreements and incorporates national and regional benchmarks. At HUGO BOSS AG, there are also works agreements that govern compensation components such as the employee performance bonus. In addition to their basic salary, non-tariff employees receive a 13th monthly salary installment and a short-term incentive (STI) linked to annual Company targets. The compensation scheme at the two levels below the Managing Board also includes a long-term incentive program (LTI) that extends over several years and matches the targets of the Managing Board. Compensation Report

In order to offer our employees an additional benefit, HUGO BOSS successfully launched its employee share investment program (SHIP) in 2023. This gives employees across more than 20 countries the opportunity to acquire a certain number of HUGO BOSS shares at regular intervals and at favorable conditions, and thus participate directly in the Company’s success. The program was very well received by our employees in its first year, resulting in an overall participation rate of around 20%, with the rate at HUGO BOSS AG even exceeding 40%. HUGO BOSS aims to expand the SHIP to additional Company locations going forward, thus increasing the number of eligible employees.

Aimed at further increasing employer attractiveness and creating an enjoyable, best-in-class workplace experience for our more than 3,000 employees at the Metzingen (Germany) campus, HUGO BOSS continues to invest into further upgrading and expanding its headquarters, with overall investments exceeding EUR 100 million. This includes the construction of a new office building with 350 additional workstations by 2025 as well as the reopening of the completely renovated employee restaurant and barista bar in 2023. To offer a more modern and welcoming experience, we also redesigned our campus’ visitor and employee entrance area with new green areas, and a lounge-like foyer and reception.

We are convinced that a balanced personal and professional life fosters a productive and motivated workforce. Consequently, we offer our employees a wide range of options to strengthen work-life balance. Numerous initiatives for flexible working enable most of our employees at the Metzingen campus to work in an agile and cross-functional manner, also with the support of flexible and modern office concepts. Our hybrid working model “Threedom of Work” applies to commercial and administrative staff in Germany and provides for three days of attendance at the Metzingen site, whereas employees are free to choose their work location on the other two days. While similar models have already been established in other Group companies, the conventional mobile working concept is available to almost all our administrative employees worldwide. In addition, trust-based working hours, individual part-time arrangements, as well as newly established job-sharing and co-leadership models complement our offerings and are intended to contribute to both increased employee retention and satisfaction. In addition, HUGO BOSS promotes the work-life balance in the form of numerous family-friendly offers, which are described in more detail in the section “Combined Non-Financial Statement.” Combined Non-Financial Statement, Employee Matters

We also attach great importance to promoting the health and performance of our employees, including numerous activities to improve physical and mental health. Employees in Germany, Switzerland, and Turkey, for example, can use the Company’s own fitness centers free of charge and participate in a wide range of different on-site and digital sport and coaching courses. A balanced nutritional concept in our HUGO BOSS restaurants is intended to improve the personal well-being of our employees. At the central distribution centers in Germany and for production employees in Metzingen, health measures also include movement breaks, massages, and back training courses.

Development offerings at HUGO BOSS include a strong focus on leadership mentality, as we are convinced that it has a significant impact on our Company’s performance and commitment of employees and teams, thus strongly contributing to achieving the targets set out in “CLAIM 5.” Regular workshops aim to firmly anchor the leadership mindset within our Company, supporting a common understanding of leadership at HUGO BOSS. In addition, we consider a good leadership culture to be a key enabler in sustainably increasing employee satisfaction. Our concept of leadership mindset envisions that leaders should act as enablers, providing their employees with a framework for their daily work, offering them support, and, at the same time, encouraging them to regularly surpass themselves. In addition, leaders at HUGO BOSS are expected to connect people and teams and to strengthen the team spirit and sense of togetherness.

In addition to vertical promotions, HUGO BOSS generally considers internal job changes across departments and divisions as crucial for promoting talents and long-term employee retention. As part of this commitment, HUGO BOSS enhanced the digital employee experience with the relaunch of our internal career platform “GLOBAL JOBS” in 2023. With a fresh look and feel and digital features, such as a chatbot, the platform redefines internal jobs searches, while underlining our dedication to technological advancement. The digital employee recommendation program “HUGO BOSS Spotted,” which was updated and extended in 2023, provides a transparent recommendation process to support the appropriate filling of vacancies by internal talents. To further boost the motivation, commitment, and qualification of employees, we also offer a wide range of training and development opportunities. This includes the Employee Development Program (EDP), the Leadership Development Program (LDP), the High Potential Program (HIPOSS), as well as the Experienced Leaders Collection (ELC) introduced in 2023. All material opportunities for individual development are described in detail in the “Combined Non-Financial Statement” within this Annual Report. Combined Non-Financial Statement, Employee Matters

In order to improve employee retention in the long term, we are striving to strengthen the identification of our employees with HUGO BOSS and its goals. A variety of internal communication measures is intended to contribute to this, aimed at strengthening the exchange both among employees as well as between employees and senior management. In addition to regular Managing Board updates, this also includes the opportunity to enter into direct exchange with the Managing Board as part of internal events. Beyond that, Company- and brand-specific news is also communicated in real time to employees in 36 countries via our global employee app “My HUGO BOSS” (2022: 36 countries). The app also offers our employees various digital conveniences, such as quick access to emails, digital business cards, or our internal career platform. To further increase community engagement within our organization, the app also features a social video wall. In addition, we launched our new global intranet “ONE” in 2023, serving as an additional communication platform for all employees worldwide. Important and centralized news about HUGO BOSS and our brands, enriched with live streams and videos, but also external content, such as industry news, are made available to employees via this channel.

HUGO BOSS determines the satisfaction and the needs of its employees as part of an employee survey conducted annually in cooperation with Great Place to Work Germany. The findings provide our Company with important impetus for the further development of its personnel work and corporate culture. The results of the annual employee survey also represent an important component of the compensation within the long-term incentive program (LTI). With a Group-wide participation rate of 77%, overall employee satisfaction amounted to 77% in 2023 (2022: participation rate of 70% and overall satisfaction of 78%). We have set ourselves the goal of maintaining a strong level of at least 75% of overall satisfaction also in the years to come. Combined Non-Financial Statement, Employee Matters

Employee figures

At the end of fiscal year 2023, on a full-time equivalent basis, 18,738 employees worked for HUGO BOSS (2022: 16,930). The increase compared to the prior year is in line with our strategic pillar “Organize for Growth,” aimed at ensuring the ongoing successful execution of “CLAIM 5.” It primarily reflects the further strengthening of our global retail business, key headquarters functions such as Omnichannel and IT, as well as our production and logistics teams. The average age of our global workforce was 36 years, thus unchanged to the prior year (2022: 36 years).

Our global positioning is also reflected in our workforce. In 2023, around 80% of our employees were based outside of Germany (2022: 80%). Within Germany, employees from almost 100 different nations worked for HUGO BOSS (2022: 93 nations). While 12,920 employees (2022: 11,384) worked in the commercial sector at the end of 2023, 5,818 employees (2022: 5,545) were assigned to industrial activities.

With a share of 59%, women continued to make up the majority of the workforce at HUGO BOSS (2022: 60%) at year-end. Across all management levels, 50% of positions were held by women at the end of 2023, thus remaining unchanged to the prior year (2022: 50%). The Managing Board has set the target of achieving a proportion of women of at least 40% in the first management level below the Managing Board and at least 50% in the second management level by 2025. As of December 31, 2023, the proportion of women at the first management level below the Managing Board was 29%, while it was 44% at the second management level below the Managing Board. Both proportions were hence broadly in line with the prior-year level (December 31, 2022: 28% and 46%, respectively). Corporate Governance and Corporate Governance Statement