WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Schibsted aims to be one of the leading corporate groups in Europe in terms of developing talent, managers and employees. The work of attracting talented people, developing good managers and creating competent organisations is given high priority by the senior management of the Group and its subsidiaries.
Offering competitive terms of employment and a stimulating working environment with good opportunities for personal and professional development form part of the strategy.
At the year-end, Schibsted had approximately 7,400 (7,200) employees, around 4,200 (4,000) of whom worked outside Norway. The Group’s sick leave rate was 4 per cent of the total working hours (4 %).
Of the Group’s companies, the operations of the printing companies in particular involve a certain risk of injury. At year-end, Schibsted owned five newspaper printing plants: Media Norge’s printing plants in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand in Norway and Kroonpress in Tartu, Estonia. Four (0) injuries involing employees' absence were reported in 2011. In addition, there were four (16) minor personal injuries such as crushing injuries or cuts.
The terrorist acts in Oslo and on Utøya must be given special mention. When the bomb was detonated in central Oslo in the afternoon of 22 July, VG, Aftenposten, Finn and Schibsted ASA had to evacuate their premises.
A news organisation also has a duty to report, analyse and comment when a catastrophe takes place in its own local area. Aftenposten and VG were both able to do this, under dramatic circumstances, from temporary premises and despite a number of practical and production-related challenges. The quality of the news reporting from the two media houses was maintained, both on paper and online. Aftenposten and VG thus carried out their civil duty in an inspirational manner in an extremely demanding work situation. All the employees involved within the Group made extraordinary efforts when the terrorism hit Oslo.
Schibsted is extremely grateful that none of our employees were physically injured, but we also have employees who were personally affected by the events. The atrocity will affect both our employees and Norwegian society for a long time to come.
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
The production of the Group’s newspapers is a digital process until the printing stage, and has little impact on the external environment. A newspaper printing plant has a relatively neutral effect on the environment, and the chemicals used to produce the newspapers are dealt with as special waste and are recycled to the greatest extent possible. Agreements with approved transport companies ensure that the special waste is collected safely. Normal operations do not involve any danger of emissions from the printing plants.
The printing plants used 121 (116) thousand tonnes of paper, 2.7 (2.6) thousand tonnes of printing ink and 43.6 (40.8) GWh of electricity in 2011.
The Group’s newspaper companies in Norway and Sweden arrange for the unsold newspapers to be returned and resold for recycling.
The Group’s other operations only pollute the environment to a slight extent.