Axa insurances: salary, training, career and jobs
The global insurance market is growing steadily, and with it the pressure of competition. One of the largest international insurance groups to compete in the market is the Paris-based AXA Group. The company, originally French, now operates worldwide, with a focus on Western Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. The public company insures around 105 million customers worldwide, both individuals and companies. AXA is also one of the leading companies in the asset management sector, with total assets under management of around 1.032 billion in 2020 to become world leader.
The German offshoot of the AXA Group operates under the name AXA Konzern AG (also AXA Deutschland) and, with more than seven million customers, is one of the leading primary insurers and financial services providers in this country. The Group's service portfolio includes in particular private forms of provision such as life insurance and health insurance as well as financial services, for example investment advice. The AG summarizes its business activities under the slogan "provision, asset management, insurance".
The AXA Group employs a total of approx. 153.000 employees in 64 countries, of which around 9.000 at locations in Germany, which makes it an important employer in this country.
But what jobs are there at AXA Germany at all? And what salaries can be expected? The following article deals with these and other questions.
The history of AXA Konzern AG
The origins of the AXA Group go back to the foundation of the insurance company Mutuelle de L'assurance contre L'incendie in the early 19th century. This history goes back to the 19th century in France, from which today's AXA Group has developed over the decades. In the following, however, we will now look at the history of the German offshoot, AXA Konzern AG.
In 1839, influential merchants and bankers establish the Cologne Fire Insurance Company, called Colonia. The new insurance company for fire damage can quickly assert itself on the market, as 42 main agencies are already working for the company one year after its founding. In the coming decades, the insurance market will grow steadily, and with it the pressure of competition. In order to secure its market position, Colonia is striving to offer other services in addition to fire insurance. For this reason, Colonia founds the Rheinische Interessengemeinschaft in the 1920s – an association of mutual shareholdings with many other insurance service providers offering insurance directly. In the course of numerous further mergers with well-known German insurance companies in the years 1969 to 1971, Colonia-Versicherung is finally created.
German reunification and the associated new market structures create numerous new challenges for the insurance company. The Group responded to these changes by creating the new holding company Colonia Konzern AG, whose majority shareholder since 1993 has been the state-owned Union des Assurance de Paris (UAP). With the takeover of UAP by the AXA Group in 1997, Colonia also joins one of the largest international insurance and financial services companies, which is followed by the change of name to AXA Colonia Konzern AG.
The insurance group has been operating under the name AXA Konzern AG in Germany since 2001 and has since grown to become one of the most important companies in the German insurance market, partly as a result of further acquisitions.
Training at AXA Konzern AG
AXA Germany offers three different apprenticeships in various fields at 16 locations throughout Germany. The Group takes on up to 200 trainees a year, who often stay with the company after successfully completing their training – the takeover rate is exceptionally high at 73 percent. The following apprenticeships are offered by AXA Konzern AG:
The insurance group remunerates its trainees in accordance with the collective agreement for the private insurance industry. This is how first-year apprentices receive 1.070 euros gross per month, in the second year already 1.145 euros gross and, in the third and final year, 1.230 euros gross per month. AXA also advertises an innovative work environment, extensive development opportunities and good promotion prospects.
Dual studies and internships at AXA Germany
For applicants with a university entrance qualification, AXA Germany also offers the possibility of a dual course of study in addition to training. Here the theoretically learned knowledge from the study can be put directly into practice. The insurance company offers the following dual study programs:
- Applied mathematics and computer science
- Risk and Insurance
AXA also links the above-mentioned courses of study with training in the fields of information technology and insurance and finance. This enables students to obtain two degrees within three years. Like apprentices, dual students are also paid according to the collective wage agreement; they receive the same salary.
AXA Germany also offers students who have already completed two semesters with good results the opportunity to complete an internship lasting between three and six months. You will gain extensive insights into various areas such as IT, marketing, human resources or insurance, gain your first important professional experience and get to know the day-to-day work in a major international corporation. After a successfully completed internship, students still have the opportunity to be accepted into AXA's scholarship program. For an internship on a voluntary basis for a duration of more than three months, interns receive the minimum wage. If it is a compulsory internship as part of their studies, on the other hand, students only receive a salary of €735 per month.
Jobs and salaries at AXA Germany
The size and internationality as well as the various fields of activity of the insurance company are the reason for a wide range of job opportunities and different career paths. The AXA Group is not only constantly looking for qualified employees in its core areas such as insurance and financial consulting; there are also countless job opportunities in IT, human resources, management consulting and field service.
The following overview presents a cross-section of various professions and their exemplary annual gross salaries at AXA Germany:
- Head of department: 73.000 – 90.000 €
- Business analyst: 68.000 – 79.000 €
- Controller: ca. 64.000 €
- Data Engineer: ca. 65.000 €
- HR manager: ca. 66.000 €
- IT project manager: ca. 80.000 €
- Campaign manager: 60.000 – 65.000 €
- Management assistant for insurance and finance: 57.000 – 62.000 €
- Marketing manager: 59.000 – 63.000 €
- Product manager: ca. 79.000 €
- Quality manager: ca. 69.000 €
- Software developer: ca. 74.000 €
- Management consultant: 68.000 – 80.000 €
- Insurance clerk: ca. 65.500 €
AXA Konzern AG has been paying its employees in accordance with the collective agreement for the private insurance industry. The individual salary can be determined on the basis of a remuneration table, which is divided into eight different salary groups. As the group and number of years in the job increases, so does the level of pay. Since 1. June 2021, the most recent increase in salaries for all salary groups came into effect.
Open positions at AXA Germany
Average gross salary for 40 hours per week
Working conditions and management of the Corona crisis – is AXA a model for other employers??
The Corona crisis hit the German economy hard. In addition to economic consequences, the conversions to home office, more flexible working hours and homeschooling also bring many companies to their limits in these times. But if you take a look at AXA Konzern AG, you will see a different picture in terms of work organization. Even before the pandemic, the insurance group attaches great importance to the compatibility of job and family – long parental leave without loss of salary and the possibility to work flexibly from home show this for example. But how do employees rate their employer? And how do they assess the working conditions before and during the Corona crisis??
Basically, it can be stated that the employees' evaluations are exceptionally positive – criticism is hardly ever voiced. So the employees of the insurance company seem to be very satisfied with their employer. This is also underpinned by a particularly low fluctuation rate, which according to the Group is only around 2.5 percent. On average, an employee remains with the company for 19 years. The employees' assessments of the social benefits, working atmosphere and communication within the company are particularly positive. The company is very family-friendly, attaches importance to equal treatment of the sexes and the relationship with superiors is usually good. Employees also praise the option of working from home and flexible working hours, e.g. for single parents. This is also where the Corona crisis comes in, because dealing with the new and challenging situation doesn't really seem to have been a problem for the insurance company in terms of work organization. Employees are generally very satisfied and particularly emphasize the consideration given to working hours. Thus, it is also possible for employees with children in distance learning to continue working without having to accept any losses.
Should other companies take AXA Germany as an example?? In summary, it can be said that the Group had already integrated progressive structures before the crisis and that, as a result, the change in everyday working life does not seem to have posed a major problem for AXA Germany and its employees. The general satisfaction of the employees, the low fluctuation rate and the good evaluations with regard to the Corona measures make it clear that AXA Konzern AG is setting a good example for other companies. So the insurance company remains a good and important employer in Germany.