According to a report by Handelsblatt, SAP's top management is losing the trust of the workforce. An internal survey from April reportedly showed that only 54 percent of respondents trust the company's management – five percentage points less than in the survey six months prior. Trust in the company's ability to implement its strategy has also fallen to 63 percent – seven percentage points less. Only 62 percent (minus eight percentage points) are enthusiastic about the software manufacturer's future.
According to the Handelsblatt report, SAP employees rate their direct supervisors much more positively: the corresponding “Leadership Index” is at 86 percent. SAP collects employee sentiment twice a year under the name “#Unfiltered”. This also derives the employee engagement index, which influences executive compensation as a key figure. According to Handelsblatt, the engagement index value is currently 73 percent.
SAP also makes this value public as part of its reporting, and a downward trend can be observed over the years. In 2020, the figure was still 86 percent. 73 percent is the lowest value to date. The lack of trust in the management by the workforce has repeatedly surfaced in previous years – according to Wirtschaftswoche, the figure was 56 percent in 2024, a decrease of 12 percent at the time. A major job-cutting program, a stricter home office policy, and a performance review program that CEO Christian Klein had imposed on his company likely fueled the discontent in recent years.
