A good workplace is our strategic priority. Employees and promoting their well-being are of paramount importance to Meira. We want to be the top choice workplace for professionals and experts in the industry. The year 2023 brought challenges, but with goals based on comprehensive analysis, we have continued to advance our sustainability objectives, such as further developing employee equality. This is not a one-time project but ongoing and long-term work.

Our Employees in Numbers

In 2023, we employed 174 people – professionals ranging from operators and production workers to marketing and sales experts, from logistics workers to procurement managers, and from administrative roles and lab technicians to supervisors and production planners. Our positions and job titles are extensive.

57% of our staff are operational workers, 40% are administrative staff, and 3.5% are in management. 36% of our employees are women and 64% are men.

At the end of 2023, the average age of Meira’s employees was 45.2 years. Most of our employees are between 30-39 or 50-59 years old. We support the balance between work and family life through practices like remote work and flexible working hours, and we can also agree on flexible work schedules if needed. The special needs of older employees are also taken into account, for example through job design and part-time work arrangements. In addition to statutory periodic health checks, Meira offers age group health checks.

We strive to offer our employees permanent and full-time employment, and the majority of our staff (95%) have such positions. Part-time positions are mainly based on the individual’s own preference. Fixed-term employment is used to balance peak workloads, cover permanent staff absences, and for specific projects as needed. Fixed-term employment is more common in the summer, and during 2023 it accounted for 4% of Meira employees’ contracts. We have also recognized the need to build an employee pool to balance production peaks. This may slightly increase the number of fixed-term and part-time contracts or temporary work in the future.

The year 2023 was challenging for us due to the inflation strongly affecting the industry and the resulting cost increases. Due to economic pressures and especially weak order volumes in December, we had to implement temporary layoffs. However, the layoffs carried out towards the end of 2023 were kept relatively short, up to a maximum of 5 days, by distributing them as widely as possible across the entire staff.

Ensuring pay equality is important to us, and we strive to identify any unjustified pay gaps. Gender pay gaps have shown signs of narrowing at Meira in recent years. The starting point is that the same basic pay is given for the same or equivalent work. Particularly for office and senior office staff, the content and demands of the roles vary significantly. Additionally, pay is influenced by skills and qualifications, performance level, and work experience. The principles of pay formation still require further development. Meira will therefore start planning a more detailed analysis of job classification and the development measures it requires.

Equality is the foundation of a good workplace

At Meira, equality is important and supports ensuring psychological safety. Our key objective is to strengthen our workplace culture and employer image so that at Meira, everyone can be themselves while respecting our values and ethical guidelines. Continuous work is done to ensure a well-being workforce and an equitable workplace. In short, equality means that all people are equal regardless of their gender, age, ethnic or national origin, nationality, language, religion or belief, opinion, disability, health status, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristic.

We conducted our first DEI self-assessment in 2022. We recognized that we are still at the beginning regarding DEI issues, especially in supporting inclusion and diversity. To deepen this understanding, we conducted a diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) survey for staff in 2023. In addition to our self-assessment, this was supported by feedback on inequality from the 2022 employee survey, and we wanted to deepen our understanding of its sources. The studies revealed that there are experiences of inequality among Meira employees for various reasons and that we need to improve our work behavior culture.

Based on the results, we launched systematic development measures for the work community, and the goals have also been considered in Meira’s strategic work. In 2023, we implemented early support training for supervisors in collaboration with occupational health services and launched the “Good Behavior Allowed, Inappropriate Behavior Prohibited” development measures, including reviewing Meira’s guidelines on inappropriate behavior with all staff and conducting training sessions for the sales and marketing organization. These trainings will continue in the coming years. The equality development measures lay the groundwork for future DEI actions to strengthen diversity and inclusion. The main focus last year and this year is to identify, correct, and develop equitable practices related to our daily work. This also involves enhancing transparency, including necessary clarifications in the employee handbook and onboarding processes.

We received feedback from 75% of all Meira employees on the DEI survey, and it was positively received by the staff. Our strength was identified as having an enthusiastic and motivated workforce committed to developing these themes.

Our work continues, and during 2024 we will focus on further ensuring psychological safety and equitable operating models

Work based on the surveys continues. The most important measure is the development of workplace culture, with a focus in 2024 on not only equality but also implementing the “Good Behavior Allowed, Inappropriate Behavior Prohibited” principles to ensure psychological safety. Training and educational measures will focus on the production organization and also on the administration and development & communications teams. We will also involve Meira employees more in developing operations and through joint events. A good example is the first company-wide “Year Opening Day” held in 2023. Additionally, strengthening Lean practices and Kaizen projects focused on eliminating waste in production are strongly built on employee involvement. Alongside developing structures and practices, we grow and learn together at Meira every day and in every interaction. Each Meira employee has an impact on building an even better work community.