Workplace

The Agora Group employs 2 427 people (full time employment). Additionally, due to the character of the business, Agora S.A. and its Group companies cooperate with freelance proffesionalists (journalists, photojournalists) who provide their services to many employers, or with people who are just entering the labor market by undertaking tasks on a limited basis on flexible terms adapted to other obligations. This is especially visible in the Helios cinema network, which often employs people who combine work with higher education. This form of employment gives them the opportunity to enter the market and gain professional experience without having to give up further education.

Table: Employment structure in Agora Group and Agora S.A. (full time emloyment):

Increased headcount is mainly an effect of higher number of people employed in the Movies and Books and the Interment segments, as well as in the supportive departments.

Increased number of co-workers results from the change of methodology in data calculating. The data for 2020 included only regular co-workers (those who were paid for at least 6 months of the year). Data for 2021 include information on all persons cooperating with Agora who were paid from Agora at least once, regardless of the duration of the contract or the cyclicality of the payment.
The data on the co-workers did not include the co-workers of Helios S.A.

Table: Employment structure by permanent and fix-term contracts in Agora Group (full time employment)*:

* The incomplete comparability of data for 2020 results from a change in the methodology of data calculation and their greater scope for 2021 (data collection by age groups and grades of employees). 

Among all employed the majority of them are employed on permanent contracts – almost 89.0% employees in Agora Group and 92.5% employees in Agora S.A.

Table: Fixed-term contracts in 2021 (full time employment):

Table: Other data on employment structure in 2021 in Agora Group**,***:

** For the comparability of data for 2020 and 2021, the number of people working for Helios SA on contracts other than employment contracts was not taken into account (1,109 women and 722 men in 2021 provided work for Helios SA based on contracts order, work and / or cooperation).

*** as above

We are one of the largest employer in media segment in Poland, with 2 427 employees on board. The low turnover rate for people employed under permanent contracts proves that Agora Group employees have development prospects, they feel safe in the workplace and derive satisfaction from the tasks performed.

The turnover rate in 2021 among employees employed under permanent contracts in the Agora Group amounted 6.5%, and in Agora S.A. 8.2%.

Table: Turnover and new hire structure of permanet and fixed-term contracts employees in Agora Group by sex and age:

Table: Turnover and new hire structure of permanet and fixed-term contracts employees in Agora S.A. by sex and age:

Table: Employees newly hired for an indefinite period in 2021 (number of people)

Table: New hires on permanent contract in 2021 (number of people):

Table: Leavers on fixed-term contracts in 2021 (number of people):

Women constitute the majority of newly hired employees both in Agora S.A. and in the Agora Group. The most represented age group among new hires are people aged 31-50.

Table: Leavers on permanent contracts in 2021 (number of people):

Table: Leavers on fixed-term contracts in 2021 (number of people):

Table: Leavers on permanent and fixed-term contracts in 2021 (number of people):

The Agora Group has the following institutions representing employees: works council, trade unions and the institution of an employee representative. All three institutions are invited to consultations on key labour issues.

The works council operates on the basis of the Act on informing and consulting employees and the agreement concluded between the council and the company's Management Board. Elections to the council are general and its term of office is 4 years. The works council represents the interests of employees and is a formal link between employees and the Management Board; it functions as an advisory and consultative body. The works council operates in the following companies: Agora S.A., AMS and Agora Radio Group.

In the Agora Group operates three trade unions – Międzyzakładowy NSZZ "Solidarność". This union extends to the following Group companies: Agora S.A., Inforadio, Agora Radio Group, AMS and Goldenline. A total of 180 employees of the Group are members of the union. Since May 2020, there has existed a second trade union organisation in Agora – Inicjatywa Pracownicza, extending to Agora. A total of 47 people are members of the trade union. In mid-2021, the Company received information about the establishment of a third trade union called Związek Zawodowy Komitetu Obrony Gazety Wyborczej operating at the Agora company. This organization was established after the announcement by the Management Board of Agora S.A. the integration plan of the Gazeta.pl division and the company's press activity.

As required by law, the management boards of companies in which trade unions operate agree legally defined decisions with representatives of the trade unions or consult them about the same. In other companies, as required by law, there is the institution of an employee representative.

Internal communication in Agora is covered by Corporate Communicaton Department. All the most important information are available for employees in Intranet, and since pandemic the special newsletter has been created.

The GCR (Glass Ceiling Ratio) is an indicator showing equal opportunities for promotion of each gender in a given organization, calculated separately for each level of the organizational hierarchy. The data in the table below shows how much more difficult was the promotion of women to the group of upper-level management and to the mid-level management.

Table: GCR ratio in Agora Group in 2021 r. (permanent and fixed-term contracts):

The relatively low Glass Ceiling Ratio (GCR) for both senior-level (7.0%) and middle management (3.6%) shows that the promotion of women in the Agora Group to positions classified as senior management and middle management is not difficult.  

In Agora S.A., as in the entire Agora Group, the average salary received by women is slightly lower than the average salary of men, and in the case of senior management – it is higher than that of men. Gender Pay Gap ratio for the Agora Group (13.8%) and for the Agora S.A. (16.8%) are lower than the Gender Pay Gap ratio for Poland, which amounts to 18.5%* and is close to the EU average, which in 2020 stood at 13.0%** .

Table: Ratio of the average salary of women to the average salary of men in the Agora Group:

Table: Ratio of the average salary of women to the average salary of men in Agora Group *** and Agora S.A.****

Gender Pay indicator for Agora S.A. (16.8%) is higher than the ratio calculated for upper management, for managers and managers and for other employees, as it is the result of the general employment structure in the company, which is characterized by a much larger number of women (women are over 30% more than men) with a salary lower by over 8% than that of men.

* Report "Gender Pay Gap in Poland in 2016", source: https://stat.gov.pl/files/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5474/12/2/1/roznice_w_wynagrodzeniem_kobiet_i_mezczyzn_w_polsce_w_2016.pdf

** Report "Gender pay gap in Poland in 2016", source: https://stat.gov.pl/files/gfx/portalinformacyjny/pl/defaultaktualnosci/5474/12/2/1/roznice_w_wynagrodzeniem_kobiet_i_mezczyzn_w_polsce_w_2016.pdf

*** "Gender Pay Gap Data 2020", Eurostat, source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Gender_pay_gap_data2020-01.jpeg

**** The lack of comparable data for 2019 and 2020 is due to the change and supplementation of the methodology of data calculation for 2021. Before 2021, the indicator was calculated jointly for all employees in managerial and senior positions and the indicator was not calculated for all employees in total.

In 2021, the HR department of Agora S.A. started the process of job description and assigning them a specific grade in the structure. Ultimately, this aims to ensure the competitiveness of remuneration in the Agora Group, as well as its ordering and harmonization within the organization. Therefore, one of the elements of this process was to compare the salaries paid for specific positions with their market equivalents – both in terms of basic salaries and additional salaries, e.g. bonuses. The HR department provided recommendations to harmonize the remuneration packages. The first compensatory steps have already been taken.

In 2021, the HR department of Agora S.A. started the process of job description and assigning them a specific grade in the structure. Ultimately, this aims to ensure the competitiveness of remuneration in the Agora Group, as well as its ordering and harmonization within the organization. Therefore, one of the elements of this process was to compare the salaries paid for specific positions with their market equivalents – both in terms of basic salaries and additional salaries, e.g. bonuses. The HR department provided recommendations to harmonize the remuneration packages. The first compensatory steps have already been taken.

Table: Employees with disability certificate in Agora Group in 2021:

Table: Maternity, paternal or parental leave in Agora Group in 2021:

Due to the outbreak of the pandemic, some of the resources from the Social Benefits Fund were used to create in 2020 a social assistance grant fund for employees and their families who found themselves in a difficult financial situation. 138 people received support from the social assistance grant fund and the total amount of support stood at PLN 280 600 thousand.

Sudden pandemic outbreak and its wide effects brought many difficult emotions resulting from forced isolation, changes in the organisation of work or fear of uncertain future for ourselves and our relatives. That is why psychological aid and support for employees and associates of the Agora Group were launched in May 2020. The project that has been still ongoing was carried out in cooperation with Mental Health Center from Cracow. As part of the Support Line, each employee and associate of the Agora Group could benefit from a package of 5 e-consultations financed by Agora. Additionally, a special discount offer was made available to relatives and to employees who had used the free consultation package and wished to continue to use the center’s services.

In the area of external training, development and substantive training continued in 2021.

A total of 200 training sessions, moderated workshops and conferences were held at Agora, with the participation of 1 557 employees. The total duration of the classes was 400.1 days.

Additionally, 50.5 training sessions were held in the Agora Radio Group, which were attended by 90 employees of the Group. Their total duration was 50.8 days.

In September 2020, HCM Deck, a new e-learning platform was implemented in Agora. A large advantage of the introduced solution is the possibility to log into it from any place and from any (including mobile) device, which was particularly important during remote work. All educational materials of the organisation, including training courses and a knowledge base, have been collected on the platform, which also provides convenience of use.

The platform can be accessed by all full-time employees and permanent associates of Agora S.A. The platform includes induction (onboarding) training for new employees, as well as obligatory and additional courses aimed at improving competences, which can be used without restrictions.

Since 2017, the Agora Group has been using in-house coaching as a development tool for the company's managers. Coaches are in-house trainers from the HR department, persons educated and certified by the International Coaching Community (ICC). In 2021, in-house coaching was carried out for 1 person. Additionally, 4 individual external processes were realised in 2021 (7 sessions in total).

Appraisal interviews are usually held annually. They are an opportunity for employees and their superiors to discuss and summarise the goals achieved in the last 12 months and to jointly set new goals to be pursued by an employee as part of his/her career development.