For us, social responsibility begins in the company and continues right on our doorstep. We create a good working relationship and are aware of our social responsibility – towards our employees, our neighbours and our business partners. As a company, we establish four strategic topics and actively develop them further.
Diversity, equal opportunities and weighing of interests
Messe Frankfurt promotes a corporate culture that focuses on equal opportunities and diversity and that takes the interests of everyone involved into account when making management decisions. Employees should have the same opportunities for professional development regardless of gender, origin, age, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual attributes. Fair, competitive, market-level remuneration for attractive job profiles are the basis for Messe Frankfurt's positioning as a socially oriented employer.
The Messe Frankfurt Group currently employs around 2,700 people worldwide. We have more than 30 nationalities working at our Frankfurt headquarters alone, with people hailing from more than 40 different countries. Cultural and linguistic diversity and a values-based approach are key factors contributing to our Group’s success.
Messe Frankfurt is a signatory of the Charter of Diversity, an employer initiative for promoting diversity in companies and institutions. In keeping with our values and beliefs, we welcome a wide diversity of people, irrespective of gender, disability, age, skin colour, origin and sexual orientation.
Needless to say, we advertise and fill vacant positions in accordance with the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG). Our company subscribes to the view that having a multicultural and multistructural workforce enhances its teams at all levels. This also means that we believe in having a healthy mixture of older and younger employees in our teams. On average, over a quarter of our new hires (excluding trainees) in the past five years were aged over 45.
We actively assist women in obtaining the qualifications they need for management positions. The proportion of women in management positions at our Frankfurt base is over 40 percent across all hierarchical levels and has increased continually in recent years.
Work quality and job satisfaction
Messe Frankfurt creates a work environment – including suitable management structures – that allows a healthy balance to be struck between professional requirements (relating to corporate objectives) and private needs. This work environment also protects employee health and adds to their long-term personal well-being. Working conditions that safeguard the physical and mental health of employees are a central part of the company's social responsibility.
Messe Frankfurt sets great store by retaining qualified and motivated employees in the company in the long term. It also recruits managers internally and provides young, upcoming talent with the support they need.
Messe Frankfurt is regularly singled out for Top Employer awards in Germany. We offer secure jobs with superior working conditions, flexible working time models, including for managers, variable working times and locations, and a healthy work-life balance. And, of course, we also provide a fair workplace, additional benefits and a company pension. Messe Frankfurt has enjoyed a low employee turnover rate for many years – a sure sign that people are happy working here. To further increase employee satisfaction and productivity, a special working group has been tasked with finding out how we should shape our working environment at Messe Frankfurt in the future.
Our employees benefit from a wide range of internal and external training options and specific individual training measures. Our internal training programme MF Campus alone contains over 330 courses. Annual evaluation and feedback appraisals allow employees and managers to discuss learning targets and development opportunities on an ongoing basis.
Employees at our Frankfurt headquarters completed a total of 5,859 mandatory and 1,443 voluntary training courses in 2024, spending a total of 9,399 hours.
Incidentally, employees who volunteer for the homeland security regiment (Heimatschutzregiment) initiated by the German armed forces in Hesse will – if possible at an operational level – be released from their duties at Messe Frankfurt for the ten planned training days every year.
In the event of a crisis, the homeland security regiment will safeguard the region’s key infrastructure and back up civil emergency management measures.
Employee development, skills and training
Messe Frankfurt helps its employees in their ongoing development, allowing them to maintain and expand their professional and personal skills by focusing both on lifelong learning and on training that goes beyond their own current position. Training young people is of central importance for Messe Frankfurt, including as a contribution to society. This allows the company to safeguard its future expertise while also helping to give the new generation the skills they need on the labour market. Investing in training and upskilling not only optimises the company's future viability but also strengthens the possibilities that are open to each individual employee.
We set great store by providing high-quality training that challenges and encourages new talent and that is based on mutual esteem. We offer needs-oriented training in seven different professions and dual study programmes. Here, we work closely together with vocational schools in Frankfurt and with three universities: DHBW Ravensburg, DHBW Mannheim and THM in Bad Vilbel. Almost 100 percent of our trainees are taken on permanently. We also offer a traineeship in our Media Relations division.
Training and dual work and study programme at Messe Frankfurt
Occupational health and safety are priorities at Messe Frankfurt, where we have many different activities for promoting the physical and mental health of our employees. As part of our Messe Vital health management programme, we offer a wide variety of Health Days and presentations, as well as providing health screenings and memberships for fitness activities. Our company sport groups and JobRad bicycle programme are also effective preventative healthcare measures that help to improve our employees’ physical and mental well-being. Employees can also consult our company doctor on any medical matters. Our ergonomic on-site workplaces are geared towards the individual needs of our employees, who also receive training on occupational safety.
Responsible business practices
As a company, Messe Frankfurt acts with foresight and a strong sense of responsibility for its employees and for society in general. Its decisions are foreseeable and its business practices are in keeping with legal and ethical standards. Messe Frankfurt involves employee representatives and, insofar as possible, offsets any disadvantages suffered by the workforce as a result of business decisions. Employees are informed about the company's status and outlook. As well as this, Messe Frankfurt takes its social responsibility very seriously and is involved in a range of social projects. Transparency, reliability and orientation strengthen trust and promote a culture of teamwork.
Sponsorships, memberships and donations are key tools employed by Messe Frankfurt in fulfilling its commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Social responsibility at local level – Children for a Better World
The work undertaken by children’s charity CHILDREN for a better World e.V. is set out in its slogan “With Children. For Children”. We have been collecting donations since 2010 and supporting a local project near our Frankfurt base.
The centre combines childcare facilities, educational assistance, guidance services, assistance with homework and a family restaurant.
Further social involvement
We support cultural institutions and events focusing primarily on sports and the arts. For many years, we have had close ties with the Schirn Kunsthalle art museum in Frankfurt. Messe Frankfurt has also been a long-standing partner to the Frankfurt Marathon, one of the largest running events in Germany. In the field of education, one of our main areas of sponsorship, we are involved in long-term projects such as the cooperation with the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, where we support two courses of study: Real Estate & Facility Management and Real Estate & Integrated Building Technology. This cooperation bridges the gap between academic research and practice.
Social responsibility in our subsidiaries