• 04/07/2020

"Man overboard - but fast" - it's not the money bag that count, it's the jobs!

CEO Ernst Prost writes in his latest circular about achieving the maximum possible for all, especially in times of crisis

Dear companions, 


the call "man overboard" is heard very often these days, not as a call for help but as an order to the HR Department...

Not here! We have a plan, a recipe how to keep 1000 people motivated and despite Corona prefer to go to work! There will be no short-time work, no redundancies, no losses as we are the strongest fighting force of all. No one is bailing out, everyone is joining in and I gave up my salary - in whole. Everyone goes to work, to the factory, to the logistics department responsibly and with diligence - just like nurses, carers and doctors go to the patient: Ready to sacrifice themselves. 

1000 proud employee who demonstrate to the outside how their company treats workers and employees in a crisis, to customers, neighbors, friends and of course to the press. Everything that we do and what drives us is communicated on our homepage. For this we get applause, approval, and recognition. 

That's why our company is up and running. The second helping to Easter of 500 euro to all the other entrepreneurs ,and before the 1000 Euros - that's a total of 1.5 million Euro Corona hardship benefit. Money well invested as many colleagues really need the money now and a number of companies announced short-time work or laying off their employees to pass on the costs to the public, even though they are sitting on bulging moneybags. Who filled these moneybags for them? The very people they abandon now. Unfortunately, a lot of companies follow this unethical behavior right now, forgetting the millions and billions in profits over the last years. Two months of headwind - just two months and everyone is screaming for the government to help and "man overboard" - not as a cry for help, but as an order! 

WE are not doing this!! WE take responsibility for our company, employees, customers, society and for our country. We all still remember the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 very well. There we set the same example and practiced what we preached. Others cut salaries, dismissed staff and introduced short-time work in order to stabilize profits on the back of society and their employees. That's sh...! and it's stupid! We came out of the previous crisis much stronger, and we are doing it this time again. We know what we are doing and we know that it is not only right, but also the only decent way to deal with our own this way! After all, it is exactly the same people who earn millions and billions of euros in profits for their companies. In times of crisis, We must never forget that! People do not forget what companies did for them in difficult situations... either they felt left alone, mistreated or supported - supported in the fight for survival of the company, their jobs but also to secure the sources of future profits. Who should do this? I give you three guesses... Whether it makes sense against this backdrop to send all those who are able to perform such tasks home in order to save costs and burden the general public by means of short-time work or redundancies, I dare to doubt. After all, the primary aim is to maintain the positive social relevance of companies and not just maximum profitability. 

It is not the money bag that counts but the jobs, value creation, tax revenue and the contributions of employers and employees to our social security systems. It is not a question of holding on to the little for the individual, but for achieving the maximum possible for all - even or especially in times of crisis! 

Yours

Ernst Prost