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.