4 Employee benefits expense

T€

2024

2023

Wages

1,765,937

1,650,392

Salaries

2,277,854

2,095,948

Social security and related costs

783,020

721,632

Expenses for severance payments and contributions to employee provident fund

23,911

22,926

Expenses for pensions and similar obligations

5,873

6,055

Other social expense

48,902

43,942

Employee benefits expense

4,905,497

4,540,895

The expenses for severance payments and contributions to the employee provident fund and expenses for pensions and similar obligations include the expenses for service costs and indemnity claims resulting from old age part-time claims in the business year. The proportions of interest included in the expenses for severance payments as well as for pensions and similar obligations are recognised in the item net interest income.

Expenses from defined contribution plans amounted to T€ 21,326 (2023: T€ 19,734).

The average number of employees with the proportional inclusion of all participation companies is as follows:

Average number of employees (FTE)

2024

2023

White-collar workers

34,277

33,657

Blue-collar workers

43,897

43,479

Total

78,174

77,136

A total of 3,238 employees (FTE) are attributable to subsidiaries and associates not included in the full scope of consolidation.

The expenses for construction materials, consumables and services used as well as the employee benefits expense also include spending on research and development for specific competitive projects, for solving new types of technical problems and for the introduction of building processes to the market.