Cultural Diversity

More than 282,000 people from 161 nations:

This is the REWE GROUP in Germany. The international character of our company enriches our culture and gives us a competitive advantage, especially when we enter new markets abroad. Globally, we employ some 390,000 people from nearly every country in the world. We have numerous programmes that promote intercultural exchange and understanding among our workforce. After all, it’s the diversity of our people that enriches and helps to shape the REWE GROUP. For that, we say: thank you, Aciu, Danke, Dziękuję, Gracias, Hvala, Köszönöm, Paldies, спасибо, شكرا, Merci, Takk, Tesekkür ederim…

At our REWE Markt Ridders store in Cologne, for example, there are more than 50 employees from half a dozen nationalities represented. Just one example of diversity in action.

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Building bridges to the future: the Kimat integration initiative at REWE South

In 2016, REWE Region South launched the integration initiative Kimat as a way of integrating migrants into the labour market and promoting intercultural communication and understanding. This award-winning project is building bridges between people’s past and their future, focusing particularly on refugees. Many are now participating in training programmes at REWE, while others are preparing to enter training, for example by taking language courses. Kimat is helping migrants enter the labour market and promoting a diverse, inclusive work environment.

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International talent

Roughly 20,000 REWE GROUP employees in Germany and Austria have a foreign passport, and that figure is steadily rising. This is due in part to a shortage of young applicants; a situation that has prompted the REWE GROUP in Germany to train more young people from outside Germany in a variety of positions. In the future, we intend to focus on recruiting prospective apprentices and managers from other European countries. These measures are increasing diversity within our workforce and ensuring that we have enough skilled workers in the future.

Integration through training

In an effort to help young migrants become active members of our society and enter professional life, the REWE GROUP is offering specialised internships. Candidates are accepted into a training programme after an intensive recruitment process that includes career taster days and internships – sometimes in cooperation with the Joblinge Kompass programme. Before starting their training, migrants often participate in a six to twelve-month introductory course focusing on language and culture. In all, we offer more than 700 internships and 240 apprenticeships through the Joblinge programme. There is also a JOBLINGE mentoring programme, in which business, government and private individuals work together to help give disadvantaged young people genuine employment prospects and integrate them in the labour market. The REWE GROUP has been a programme partner since 2009, promoting integration through a mentoring programme in which our employees mentor young adults for 4-6 months.