At the end of 2001, the Powergen Group employed a total of 10,253 people, a reduction of just over 1,100 people on the year. The breakdown of the employment was as follows:

Changes during the year

Some of the main changes that occurred during the year were:

In the UK

• Over 900 new staff (net 600) joined the Retail business, mostly in customer service centres
• More than 400 staff transferred to Siemens following its purchase of the Metering business
• Some 220 overseas staff transferred to new owners as part of the disposal of Powergen International.

In the US
   
There was a net reduction of 813 staff, including 1,159 employees who left the Company as a result of corporate restructuring and business efficiency changes.

Staff turnover

External staff turnover in the ongoing UK business during 2001 was 9% overall. In the US, overall staff turnover was 7.6%. Both of these figures are lower than the average for private companies of a similar size.

Gender

The number of women employed by the Powergen Group increased during the year. In our UK business at the end of 2001 we employed 37% women and 63% men (women up from 29% at the beginning of the year). In the US, the split at the end of 2001 was 22.5% women and 77.5% men (women up from 19.2% last year).