Responsibility
Our investment in a future worth living - for everyone
As a specialised HR services company, we help people succeed, to make businesses strong and to create opportunities that change lives for the better. Why are we so successful with this model? Because we assume responsibility as an organisation.
Hays wins the German Sustainability Award 2025
We have been honoured with the German Sustainability Award 2025 in the recruitment sector for our internal efforts to promote greater environmental protection and equal opportunities in the world of work and to actively integrate the topic of sustainability into our business model with our Green Business division.
Promoting green careers and helping our clients to achieve their individual sustainability goals by placing suitable specialists is not our only aspiration. With our wide-ranging commitment to diversity, our interdisciplinary climate protection team and our global volunteering programme Helping for your tomorrow, with which we pave the way for disadvantaged people into the world of work, we also make a sustainable contribution to society internally.
With success, as Stefan Schulze-Hausmann, CEO of the German Sustainability Award Foundation, confirms: ‘The German Sustainability Award for Companies honours organisations that demonstrate effective and exemplary contributions to transformation and are exemplary in their industry. The jury is of the opinion that the HR consultancy Hays has achieved a leading role and represents a ‘beacon’ in its sector in terms of successful transformation.’
Everyone should be able to realise their true potential
Our business is about people, and we are passionate about creating respectful and trusting relationships with everyone we work with. Because we believe that it decisively improves their lives and work when everyone is able to realise their true potential.
Our sustainably aligned corporate governance helps us to create the framework conditions for equal opportunities in social, ecological and economic terms. We bring diversity to life because we see this as a basic requirement for our innovativeness and competitiveness.
With our science based targets, we advocate for climate protection – an investment in the future. One of our principles is thinking today of tomorrow’s careers – this is what guides the education and further training for our employees as well as our social commitment. To us, fair and ethical behaviour is the basis for every form of collaboration – we promote it using our comprehensive compliance management system.
Why we take responsibility
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Different perspectives are a basic requirement for innovativeness. This is why we promote diversity and equality of opportunity in all their facets.
Climate & resources
Ensuring the responsible use of resources is equally important to us from an ecological and economic perspective, which is why we set ourselves ambitious climate targets.
Social
Engagement
Equality of opportunity and educational equality are two sides of the same coin. This is why we help remove barriers on the educational journey, especially for younger people.
Compliance & Integrity
We stand against corruption and bribery and we support legally compliant behaviour through a comprehensive compliance management system.
Employer responsibility
Our employees are our most valuable asset – which is why our commitment to them goes far beyond statutory provisions.
Our sustainability strategy
Our aim is to establish and expand sustainable thinking and action at all corporate levels. We have mapped out this journey in our sustainability strategy. We continuously evolve the targets and actions formulated there.
Every two years, we voluntarily publish a compliance statement according to the DNK sustainability code documenting our commitment’s status quo.
The DNK (German sustainability code) is a cross-industry transparency standard that companies use to communicate their sustainability performance.
Our contribution to Agenda 2030
Our sustainability strategy takes up the principles of various international standards. Most importantly, we identify with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations. The 17 SDGs are part of the UN’s Agenda 2030 to contribute to a sustainable development at an economic, social and ecological level worldwide.
As a business, we want to play our part in achieving the global UN goals, and we are focusing in particular on the following topics:
Promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Our contribution: We systematically support our employees to discover, harness and grow their potential.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Our contribution: We see diversity as a basic requirement for innovativeness and competitiveness, which is why we place equality of opportunity at the centre of our actions – internally and externally.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Together with our customers, we shape the world of work and ensure decent workplaces today and in the future.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Our contribution: Since the end of 2021, Hays has been a climate-neutral organisation by offsetting unavoidable greenhouse gases. In future, however, we will increasingly focus on avoiding and reducing emissions. To this end, we have set Group-wide and science-based climate targets that have been officially validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative.