We build

As Swiss Re evolves, understanding and sourcing critical, strategic, future-ready skills are essential for our journey to be a tech- and data-enabled risk knowledge company.

We firmly believe in the 70/20/10 approach to learning. It advocates a blended approach to learning, consisting of actions that reflect “on-the-job experiences”, eg rotations and stretch assignments (70%), “learning from others”, eg mentoring and coaching (20%) and structured learning (10%).

In 2022, Swiss Re also received further external recognition for its qualities as an employer. The company was included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and was Silver Award Winner in the Stonewall Global Workplace Equality Index. The company’s EDGE certification was renewed in 2022 and it als received several local and regional awards, including two Best Workplaces awards in Canada.

Developing our employees

Our vision for the future of learning at Swiss Re includes an increased focus on outstanding learning experience that is digital, social, accessible and commercial. We believe that learning should enable employees to deliver their best performance towards fulfilling Swiss Re’s strategy.

We continued to leverage our learning experience platform LearningOne which was introduced in 2019. It is a comprehensive platform aimed at making the learning experience seamless, by providing employees with convenient access to their training needs. LearningOne was crucial to supporting employees and line managers with training opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reflecting our commitment to sustainability, Swiss Re has signed the UN Global Compact and is committed to implementing its ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. We uphold the freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

Many of our locations have active employee advocacy groups, in line with local practice, that contribute to the company’s success by offering valuable perspectives and by helping us identify employment-related challenges. These bodies are elected by local employees and have clearly defined information and consultation rights. Although there are significant local differences in the applicable legislation, the advocacy groups’ rights typically concern working conditions, benefits, reorganisation and restructuring, redundancies, disciplinary actions and conflict cases. 47% of employees are represented by an independent trade union or covered by collective bargaining agreements.

We support and value our cooperation with these groups. At our Zurich headquarters, where almost one-quarter of our employees is based, we work closely with the Personnel Committee (PECO), which represents the interests of our Swiss-based staff. PECO is consulted about changes or adaptations to the General Working Conditions or other important policies, such as the Social Plan. It also focuses on gender parity as well as challenges faced by employees with family commitments. In the UK, similar activities are carried out by the Employee Liaison Group (ELG), and our Munich office has a work council with clearly defined co-determination rights in several areas. Other offices in Europe (eg France, Italy, Luxembourg and Denmark) also have work councils or staff delegates, depending on the size of the branch and local regulations.