Employees Aareal Bank and its subsidiaries around the world employ about 2,500 people, 800 of which are at the Wiesbaden Head Office. The bank's inter- national orientation is apparent in its employee structure. Our international workforce is comprised of people from 40 different nations. We promote intercultural understanding by offering language courses, opportunities to work abroad, and partnerships with internationally oriented universities. In addition, we regularly involve our managers and experts from Europe, North America and Asia in projects extending across different locations, engaging them to regularly exchange experience with us and each other. For us, there are two aspects to expertise: international experience combined with the know- ledge of one's own domestic market and industry expertise. We also welcome industry expertise beyond the financial sector. Because specialists are indispensable in the complex nature of our business operations, employees can choose one of two equal career tracks, the expert track or the management track. Aareal Bank is mid-sized in structure. Our level hierarchy and lack of bureaucracy in decision- making open up attractive opportunities to em- ployees. And those just starting their careers have the opportunity to assume responsibility early on ­ working on partial projects in financing appli- cations, for example. We lead people through new tasks step by step. More experienced co-workers are available to mentor them. At Aareal Academy we develop our employees and management personnel. In addition, we participate in an exchange programme with inter- nationally accredited universities such as European Business School (cf. page 78). At EBS, Aareal Bank have the opportunity to attend various continuing education courses at the Real Estate Management Institute (REMI). Aareal Bank Group relies on employees who want to take part in shaping the company's success. As specialists for specialists, our employees work on customised solutions for our clients and thus contribute to the company's success. 28 Aareal Bank Group ­ Annual Report 2008 | Employees