General review
Personnel Personnel policy within the Group has largely been decentralized. Heineken operates in a large
number of countries, each with its own culture and labour laws. The various operating companies
are responsible for shaping their own personnel policy.
The part of our personnel policy conducted at central level focuses on recruiting, training and re
taining international managers at the senior management level. The tight conditions on the labour
market necessitated an increase in our efforts in this respect.
Knowledge management is a major prerequisite for improvement and innovation. Unlocking and
making optimum use of new knowledge and knowledge already available is crucial to this. Our train
ing structure, the Heineken University, plays an important part in developing knowledge manage
ment.
In 2000 the average number of employees amounted to 37,857 compared with 36,733 in the pre
ceding year. The increase is the result of on the one hand an increase due to acquisitions and on the
other hand a decrease caused by an improvement in efficiency. The acquisition of Cruzcampo in
Spain accounted for the biggest increase in the number of employees. In Europe the work force
increased as a result of acquisitions by the wholesale organizations of Italy, Switzerland and Poland.
At the same time the number of employees declined as a result of improved efficiency in various
countries, among them France and Italy.
Geographical breakdown of personnel
in numbers
HEINEKEN N V. ANNUAL REPORT 2000
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