Corporate citizenship

The Schaeffler Group is committed to social well-being around its core business and beyond. It follows the mission statement “In the region – for the region”. The core areas of engagement are “Education and science”, “Health and social issues”, and “Sports and culture”. Donations are monitored by the Compliance department, while sponsorships are managed by the Communications and Branding department.

Common good in view

A groupwide sponsoring guideline ensures that funds provided by the company are used in a targeted manner. Any payments to organizations and initiatives that do not work towards the common good are excluded, as are payments intended to generate profits or those that do not conform to the Schaeffler Group’s Code of Conduct. Schaeffler introduced a management system to centrally record worldwide sponsorship activities in 2017.

In the year under review, a total of 412 CSR projects were initiated and implemented worldwide. Selected project examples are listed below.

Education and science

Education, training, and scientific research are key factors for success in the Schaeffler Group’s business model. The company is therefore active in education and science through strategic partnerships and collaborations. Schaeffler has been the main sponsor of the “Formula Student” for over ten years. In this program, aspiring engineers from all over the world have the opportunity to use their skills to design their own race cars in a team and test them under racing conditions. As part of this event, Schaeffler has been organizing a networking event called “Motorsport Academy” for talented young engineering students at European universities every year since 2014. In 2018, 14 teams participated with a total of 62 students from Germany and Switzerland.

As part of the “Experience Europe” education initiative, Schaeffler offers short internships to unemployed people between the ages of 18 and 25 in other European countries. The initiative is supported by the German Federal Employment Agency, Caritas, and the German Employees Academy. Since its launch in January 2018, 27 young people have already participated in the initiative. Within four weeks, they completed short internships at two different company locations. Thanks to the diverse program and the intensive support during the stay abroad, the participants can significantly improve their career opportunities and enhance their understanding of a united Europe.

Schaeffler sponsored the “Handelsblatt University Innovation Challenge” 2018 as a premium partner in the year under review. The competition is organized by the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt and the Handelsblatt Media Group and is under the patronage of the German state of Hesse. It recognizes outstanding technical innovations from student creators and researchers.

Schaeffler’s Brazil-based social education program “Formare” targets young people from poor households. The goal is to help them successfully complete their school career. Around 60 volunteers from the workforce teach – after a didactic and pedagogical introduction – 20 participants for six months comprehensively in terms of key qualifications and technical subjects. The curriculum also includes communication, teamwork, health and safety, business, and the German language. Community activities and social work are also part of the program. In addition, participants collect food and clothing for the disadvantaged and develop plays and ideas for general leisure activities. By October 2018, 406 young people (80% of the participants) had completed the program.

The Schaeffler Group is also involved in environmental education. A good example is the support of the SCHUBZ Environmental Education Center near the company’s site in Brașov, Romania. The facility was designed based on the model of the SCHUBZ Environmental Education Center in the Hanseatic city of Lüneburg, Germany, and has been supported by the Schaeffler Group since 2017. Its goal is to make environmental education a higher priority in the Romanian education system and to sensitize children and young people to sustainable development.

The Schaeffler FAG Foundation, established in 1983, is a major player in the Schaeffler Group’s involvement in education and science. The purpose of the foundation is to support science, research, and teaching in scientific and technical fields related to bearing technology. The foundation sees itself as a bridge between science and the economy that brings together people’s visions and goals in research, teaching, and the economy. Since its founding, the Schaeffler FAG Foundation has distributed over EUR 1 m in funding.

Health and social issues

Schaeffler wants to positively influence its environment and support people in need or in difficult living conditions. The Schaeffler Group also creates targeted job opportunities for people with disabilities outside of the company. For this reason, it awards orders to the Lebenshilfe workshops, for example in safeguarding assembly processes. The goal is to promote the personal and professional opportunities of each individual and to involve them individually in the work process up to a possible integration into the open labor market.

In 2018, the Schaeffler Group honored the long-standing partnership with people with disabilities in a special way. As part of the citizens’ celebration initiated by German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Schaeffler, together with the Lebenshilfe workshops, presented the nearly 20-year cooperation as an example of how economic success can be combined with sustainable social commitment.

Furthermore, Schaeffler has been working with AfB GmbH, Europe’s largest non-profit second-hand IT recycling company, for over ten years. Schaeffler supports the company’s efforts to provide people with disabilities employment opportunities in the primary labor market. Over the past ten years, the company has had over 400 tons of used IT hardware picked up and processed by AfB, creating an average of three jobs for people with disabilities. Since then, almost 2,700 tons of iron equivalents¹⁾, 5,600,000 kWh of energy, and 1,770 tons of CO₂ equivalents have been saved. In October 2018, Schaeffler was honored by AfB for its commitment.

In 2018, Schaeffler India continued its involvement in the HOPE initiative, which began in 2015. In the reporting period, the company defined four focus areas in order to better structure its involvement in India. The focus is on health care, promoting employability, protecting national art and cultural heritage, and strengthening social institutions.

In Vadodara, Gujarat, mobile health teams were sent on their way. Young women and girls were able to take part in medical check-ups. Children were also tested for malnutrition, and treated if necessary. Commercial, service, and technical skills were conveyed to women’s groups and mixed teams in various programs. The project “Quest on Wheels” organized trips for students to cultural sites, gardens, and exhibitions. In addition, Schaeffler India has supported schools with construction issues such as sanitation and administration. Finally, Schaeffler provided funding for the construction of a hostel for girls.

Schaeffler Iberia has been supporting projects in the Indian region of Anantapur for twelve years. In 2016, the company launched a project to help people with disabilities live a decent life in this particularly poor area. The project involved the construction of 33 handicapped-accessible houses by the end of 2018.

In 2018, the Automotive Aftermarket division donated a total of EUR 25,500 to the South African children’s home “Khayalethu Youth Centre” in Port Elizabeth. With this contribution, the construction of a new classroom building was possible. In addition, the division supports a project that is caring for street children at the site of Schaeffler South Africa.

In 2018, an international volunteer program was launched in collaboration with the student organization AIESEC. The organization arranges internships at non-governmental organizations abroad. The Schaeffler Group selected a total of ten participants and paid the fees for their placement and organizational tasks. The goal is to promote intercultural skills and student exchange and to position to company as an attractive employer. In addition, Schaeffler has been operating an extensive corporate volunteering program in South Korea called EVERGREEN since 2013. In 2018, 15 participants traveled to Danang, Vietnam, for one week. There, they supported educational institutions for orphans with a self-developed program. Key areas included environmental education and cultural exchange as well as the maintenance of technical facilities.

Sports and culture

Schaeffler also contributes to conveying values by supporting sports and cultural activities contributes and thus generates momentum for positive social development.

The company stands for a long tradition in motorsports. Since the first season 2014/2015, Schaeffler has been one of the key actors in the Formula E scene, also underscoring its position as an electromobility pioneer on the racetrack. Winning the title in the 2016/2017 season with Lucas di Grassi in the cockpit is a testament to the work done so far by Schaeffler in Formula E. Even after Audi joined for the 2017/2018 season, Schaeffler continues to participate in the work of the cooperation partners in the areas of the electric motor, transmission, chassis suspension, and power electronics. The drive for the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team continues to come from Schaeffler. In 2018, the Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler team won the team title.

In Brazil, on the other hand, Schaeffler is committed to classical music and offers high-quality music programs by national and international artists to local people. An event for children and the deaf was hosted for the first time in 2018. In 2019, the project will celebrate its tenth anniversary.

1) The harmonized indicator was calculated using the ReCiPe method and describes the relative severity of the environmental impact.