- EUR 500 million investment volume, intensified in digitalization, by 2025
- Entire service portfolio to be digitalized by 2025
- Cyber security and artificial intelligence are key future fields
- Asian market promises above-average growth in 2021
- Turnover 2020 almost at previous year’s level with higher operating cash flow.
- EcoVadis recognizes expert organization with sustainability champion award
As a respected partner for the testing, inspection and certification of intelligent and networked products, DEKRA has stood out as a reliable employer even during the coronavirus crisis year of 2020: The core workforce increased by 400 employees to almost 30,000. “Thanks to our broad professional positioning, our global presence, and a consistent optimization program, we were able to keep the effects of the pandemic to within narrow limits,” said Stefan Kölbl, DEKRA Chairman of the Management Board, at the virtual press briefing on annual results in Stuttgart. DEKRA generated turnover of EUR 3.2 billion, almost on a par with the previous year – excluding the decline in turnover in the Temp Work division. The operating cash flow increased by EUR 70 million. The decline in earnings was lower than expected.
Kölbl regards 2021 as a year of enthusiasm for new beginnings with new shores of growth, which is also reflected in the recent appointments to the Management Board: IT and digital transformation expert Ulrike Hetzel, who joined from Bosch, continues to drive the development of new digital competencies as CTO. Stan Zurkiewicz has led the important growth region of East & South Asia for five years and is now responsible for further global expansion as COO. In 2021, DEKRA is seeking to use the two megatrends of digitalization and sustainability to its advantage: The core workforce is to be increased by at least another 1,000 employees through the expansion of digital services. The total workforce, including temporary staffing, will then comprise more than 45,000 employees.
This increase in staffing follows on seamlessly from previous years: Since 2015, DEKRA has increased its permanent workforce by about one fifth, from around 25,000 to 30,000 at present. A large part of this growth was achieved outside of Germany, especially in Asia. According to Kölbl, this will also be the case in the future. “Even in the year of the coronavirus, our turnover in China saw double-digit growth, for example,” the DEKRA CEO reported. “That’s why we will create around another 400 new jobs in the current fiscal year in the Asia-Pacific growth region alone, on top of the existing 3,500.” (…)
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About DEKRA
DEKRA has been active in the field of safety for almost 100 years. Founded in 1925 in Berlin as Deutscher Kraftfahrzeug-Überwachungs-Verein e.V., it is today one of the world’s leading expert organizations. DEKRA SE is a subsidiary of DEKRA e.V. and manages the Group’s operating business. In 2020, DEKRA generated turnover totaling almost EUR 3.2 billion. The company currently employs around 44,000 people in approximately 60 countries on all continents. With qualified and independent expert services, they work for safety on the road, at work and at home. These services range from vehicle inspection and expert appraisals to claims services, industrial and building inspections, safety consultancy, testing and certification of products and systems, as well as training courses and temporary work. The vision for the company’s 100th birthday in 2025 is that DEKRA will be the global partner for a safe world. With a platinum rating from EcoVadis, DEKRA is now in the top one percent of sustainable businesses ranked.
4 May 2021
