39Combined Group Management Report Consolidated Financial Statements Corporate Governance Report Supervisory Board and Board of Management Tables and Explanations Gender and Age Profile, Part-Time Staff At the end of 2009, around 27 percent of our employees were women. Women accounted for 12 percent of our senior man- agers (an increase from the prior-year figure) and 5 percent of our top executives. The average E.ON Group employee was 42 years old and had worked for us for about 14 years. A total of 8,235 E.ON Group employees were on a part-time schedule, of whom 4,490, or 55 percent, were women. Employee turn- over resulting from voluntary terminations averaged around 5 percent across the organization. Employer Branding With the pace of demographic change increasing, the war for talent is becoming more intense. E.ON needs to be per- ceived as an attractive employer for us to hire and retain the best-qualified and most talented people. To succeed in this effort, we seek out opportunities to meet and dialog with potential hires from a variety of target groups.This enables us to communicate with them at eye level and address their needs and interests. In this effort, we use a wide range of channels, including career events and social media. As an Employees by Region1 Dec. 31, 2009 Germany 35,636 United Kingdom 17,179 Romania 6,772 Sweden 5,317 Hungary 4,913 Russia 4,702 USA and Canada 3,256 Czech Republic 2,735 Bulgaria 2,108 Other2 5,609 1Figures do not include board members, managing directors, or apprentices. 2Includes Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and certain other countries. international company, E.ON brings together staff from all our market units to refine our employer branding, to identify and address challenges, and to learn from one another. For example, we are very active in marketing our company to potential hires among university students, secondary-school students, and people interested in an apprenticeship. We also make a special effort to reach out to people from minority groups. We offer excellent job opportunities and graduate programs, promote the development of women employees, foster a range of employee networks, and offer guidance and advice to employees interested in pursuing international careers. Our steadily improving rankings in independent sur- veys--including Best Workplaces in Germany and Best Work- places in Europe conducted by the Great Place to Work Insti- tute--indicate that our efforts are working. E.ON Graduate Program Since it was launched in 2005, the E.ON Graduate Program has accepted 235 trainees Group-wide, 69 in 2009 alone. A total of 133 trainees have completed the program successfully and started their careers with our company. HR Development: Talent Management The purpose of our Group-wide management review process is to identify future leaders and evaluate our managers' per- formance and potential on the basis of uniform standards. The review ensures that our career and succession planning extends across all levels of hierarchy in our organization. Its results are incorporated into our Group-wide succession plan- ning and our target-oriented HR development planning. Group-wide HR development costs amounted to around 73 million in 2009. The majority of this training is conducted by E.ON Academy, our corporate university.