2.1 Number of Employees and Personnel Expense
at 31 December | in full-time equivalent | 2025 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Real Estate | 357 | 371 | ||
Automotive | 131 | 118 | ||
General Marketplaces | 129 | 143 | ||
Other (Finance & Insurance, Central Services) | 242 | 231 | ||
Total FTEs | 859 | 863 | ||
of which based in Switzerland | 528 | 570 | ||
of which based in other countries | 331 | 293 | ||
Average number of FTEs | 859 | 832 |
for the year ended 31 December | in CHF thousand | 2025 | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Salary and wage expense | (93,190) | (93,228) | ||
Social security expense | (9,394) | (8,828) | ||
Expense for defined contribution plans | (145) | (36) | ||
Expense for defined benefit plans | (12,045) | (5,066) | ||
Expense for employee share-based compensation | (21,872) | (3,921) | ||
Other personnel expense | (5,285) | (4,970) | ||
Total personnel expense | (141,931) | (116,049) | ||
of which relates to Switzerland | (128,789) | (103,637) | ||
of which relates to other countries | (13,142) | (12,412) |
In 2025, the increase in personnel expenses is primarily attributable to past service costs arising from the harmonisation of pension plan providers (refer to Note 2.3), as well as higher share-based compensation expense, mainly driven by a fair value adjustment of the Phantom Stock Plan (PSP) (refer Note 3.8) and the introduction of new share-based compensation plans during the year (refer to Note 2.2).
Other personnel expense includes expenses related to recruitment, severance payments, training and education.