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Company Culture

On a daily basis, our values and our corporate culture guide our actions and our relationships with our stakeholders. They represent the foundations on which we can rely to achieve our ambition to energize the world.

An environment of innovation and leadership

Saft products set new standards in innovation and applied technology. From research and development to manufacturing, we set the pace of change and help our customers achieve great feats. We employ a huge range of scientists – 1.5 percent of our workforce has a PhD – and have structured our product development so that we can try as many things as possible and either proceed with them or see them fail fast. It's about discovery, application and affordability.

A source of stimulation

We have many firsts to be proud of – from our Seanergy® marine lithium-ion modules for clean marine applications, launched in 2014, to having the first lithium-ion batteries in Space; from being recognized by Guinness World Records in 2011 as producing the "world's most powerful battery" to powering the Rosetta mission’s Philae lander in 2014 to collect data about comets.

But our history of innovation isn't all recent, because in 1946 our subsidiary Henry Bissle made the first Ni-Cd batteries, and in 1965 we filed the first patents for primary lithium. And we're always looking to the future. Today, we're working on cheaper sodium-ion batteries that could store excess energy, as well as lighter and more dense lithium-sulfur and solid-state batteries.

An international community

Saft has a presence in 19 countries, with 31 sales offices and 16 manufacturing sites. We have more than 3,000 customers and 4,000 staff from 49 countries and our customers come from a broad range of markets from all around the world. This global presence is a huge asset and we encourage international co-operation between teams and projects to make the most of it. It's about being part of a global team.

Recognition and merit

Saft's policy is to recognize and value collective and individual performance. We encourage teamwork and for individuals to take the initiative and assume responsibility.

Careers and personal development

At Saft, we believe in and invest in our staff. Training and mentoring programs operate across the company, helping to bring out the best in everyone. For example, our new Technical Expert program – called STEP UP – recognizes four different levels. It starts with specialist, then expert, senior expert and fellow at the top. Recognition is given in one or more domains including technical, applications and functional (R&D, engineering, field services), combined with know-how (operational and leadership). 

Saft's continued success is based on our motivated and engaged staff.

Being committed to strong gender equality in our HR policy

From research to manufacturing and sales, we set the pace. We are the producer of choice for some of the world's most demanding customers. 

Around 1.5 percent of our employees have PhDs and 32 percent of our workforce are women (including 23 percent of our engineers and managers). In 2022, the Gender Equality Index score for Saft stood at 93 points out of 100 (French Index):

  • Pay gap: 38/40
  • Difference in the distribution of individual salary increases between women and men: 20/20
  • Difference in the distribution of promotions between women and men: 15/15
  • Percentage of female employees' salary increase returning from maternity leave: 15/15
  • Parity between women and men among the ten highest wages: 5/10