Are big German companies really that good?

Recently, friends have the idea of job-hopping, and there are many personnel changes in the company. I just found out that the topic of "going to a big company or a small company", which often appears in graduation season, is actually a hot topic in the workplace.

Of course, friends who go directly to start a business or inherit the family business can go around.

I don't have any successful experience to sell, or want to persuade anything earnestly. There are too many discussions about big enterprises or small companies on the Internet. What I want to say is my own experience and understanding, nothing more.

I work for a so-called German enterprise that ranks in the top five in traditional industries. This enterprise has a long history. At the beginning of its establishment, it was indeed a 100% German enterprise, even a local enterprise.

The reason why the word "so-called" is added is that it has experienced many large-scale mergers and acquisitions in the past decade, and the largest shareholder has long been unrelated to Germany. Unfortunately, this fact does not exist in the eyes of many employees in the German headquarters, which has led to many incomprehensible things. I will talk about it in detail below.

Germany's iron rice bowl

Like China, Germans treat employers from all walks of life in different ways. What is very popular among Germans is an Unbefristeter Vertrag, that is, the work contract has no termination period. Such contracts are generally provided by industries and government departments. It used to exist in universities and research institutes, but now it has almost disappeared.

How popular is it? When looking for a house in Germany, your occupation can be roughly divided into two types: angestellt (employee) and selbstaendig (freelancer). Landlords like to hire employees with permanent contracts as tenants, because such tenants have a fixed income as a guarantee.

Although tenants with permanent contracts may also default on rent, and freelancers may earn more, the landlord's mentality is that freedom means instability. How can we pay the rent in case there is no income next month?

Looking for a job in Germany, if you get a permanent contract, usually everyone thinks it is something to be proud of. I've also heard something like "I have a geschafft! I finally did it! Such words "). For example, this kind of indefinite position is as hot as domestic civil servants. Maybe it doesn't matter what the specific work content is every day and whether there is any development prospect. The welfare and stability it provides have overwhelmingly won the hearts of many job seekers.

But is permanent contract really an iron rice bowl? Can you guarantee that you can rest easy from now on?

Obviously not.

Take my industry as an example. In the past ten years, many peer companies have either gone bankrupt, been sold or strengthened through mergers and acquisitions. Of course, this company is no exception, although every merger and acquisition, the status of the German headquarters remains unchanged, and it is the layoffs of the other side of the merger and the dissolution of the branch. However, the broadsword of thin (cut) Jane (staff) finally swung to the staff at headquarters last year.

Many non-core businesses should be outsourced to other professional enterprises (outsourcing) or overseas contractors (offshore outsourcing) to ensure that the company focuses on core businesses with competitive advantages. If there are overlapping positions with similar functions to other departments, they should be abolished. The implementation of a set of measures has basically affected all departments of the company.

After the coordination of the trade union, the board of directors of the company promised a series of compensation conditions to all the affected employees. Unfortunately, except for keeping the "permanent" contracts of these employees until the end of 18, most of the promises have not been fulfilled.

I clearly remember that at a staff meeting at the beginning of this year, a middle-aged German female colleague questioned the real significance of this project under the banner of improving efficiency: her department's business had to be partially outsourced, and a dozen people had to leave halfway. How is it possible to use half of them to do even more work before?

The Chief Executive answered many questions and finally said that we should make changes. The previous working mode is very problematic and no longer works. We must improve efficiency.

Therefore, a permanent contract is not your employment security, nor does it mean that the company can't lay off employees, nor does it mean that you are in charge of the company, and you are regarded as a relative who can't give up.

The brightness and darkness of traditional large enterprises

The permanent contract in Germany is over, so what about the big German enterprises? Many people will say that the advantages of working in a large enterprise are stability, clear division of labor, perfect promotion and reward system and many training and learning opportunities. These are true, but everything has two sides. Let me talk about what I have seen and heard in recent years.

When I first changed careers, I was worried that my industry was too traditional and conservative. However, because I joined the company's newly established team responsible for cross-departmental projects, and the bosses were very open-minded and half of them were international colleagues, the projects I took over were very fresh and challenging, and I spent my honeymoon with this big company beyond my imagination.

Its benefits are very obvious: providing permanent contracts, good salary and benefits, and various forms of training and learning opportunities. The company pays attention to selecting talents and has a tailor-made talent development plan.

At the same time, the company strives to create a warm atmosphere, hoping that employees will be proud of the company and have a wide range of employee activities. This made me feel fresh and kind when I escaped from a German university that was more bureaucratic than the government department.

However, the shortcomings and advantages of this traditional large enterprise are as obvious. The division of departments is too fine, which directly leads to a complete project chain being cut into several pieces. Decision-making takes a long time and acts rigidly. Some old colleagues laughed at themselves, saying that the company's decision-making is like waiting for the fruit on the tree to ripen until it falls off the tree, and the fallen fruit becomes the company's decision.

Too detailed division of labor has led many colleagues to focus only on their own small piece. From the overall perspective, there are often three "no" attitudes towards highly related businesses that are handled by other departments: I don't know, it's none of my business, it's none of your business.

I was yelled at twice by my colleagues in other departments on the phone because I sent an email asking his/her opinion about the possibility of improving an indicator. I was yelled at inexplicably, and it took several seconds to understand that he/she was asking me: Who are you? Why do you interfere with his/her work?

At the same time, international colleagues who can't speak German have many language barriers when they work in the headquarters of this big enterprise. For example, the workers' meeting held by representatives of enterprise trade unions, no matter how close it is to everyone, is in German. The three-day induction training for new employees is all in German. After the training, I suggest changing to English, or providing training materials in English. The personnel replied to me like this: we can't change it to English because many colleagues are not used to speaking English. . .

To tell the truth, I don't understand that a group of people who have worked in large enterprises with multinational business for so many years and have colleagues all over the world are not used to speaking English. I didn't know when I confessed. It was not until our department recruited people and wanted to post them on the company intranet that I realized that the recruitment notice should be written in German, because trade union members only read German.

So irony happened. First of all, colleagues who can speak English write job advertisements in English, which are translated into German by German colleagues in the same department, and then sent to trade unions and personnel departments. After approval, it will be translated from German into English by German colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel. In a circle, the recruitment notice has changed beyond recognition.

The website for checking working hours, applying for holidays and approving subordinates' holidays is in German. All training related to law must be conducted in German. If you need English training, you should apply to your colleagues in relevant departments. The menu in the staff canteen is in German. Can you understand it? Are you allergic to some ingredients? Wait, the list goes on.

As for promotion and reward, don't think too much. Your year-end bonus may not have much to do with your performance this year, but it is directly related to your level in the company. You are likely to be sad to find that what you get is similar to those colleagues who are lazy at the same level. Because in Germany, the boss can't directly compare the performance of subordinates by name. The bigger the company, the more obvious this is.

What should I value when looking for a job?

Last year, the company's internal news network published articles twice to solicit employees' opinions, asking us to vote on whether English should be used as the public language of the company. In both cases, more than half of the employees voted against it. Many German employees commented directly in German at the bottom of the article: This is a German company! Of course, speak German!

I don't want to overcompensate that German colleagues should also speak English, but every time I see similar extreme comments, I really want to ask where this blind self-confidence comes from. . . Is it confidence in the permanent contract held by the opponent, or confidence in this so-called big German enterprise? What if one day the tree falls down and the next good job is fluent in English? At that moment, I remembered, oh, I was not used to speaking English before. Is it a little late?

If you have been in the company for many years, only the length of service and salary will increase. You can feel lucky and comfortable, and feel that you are a resource of the company. But when the hurricane of layoffs sweeps through your industry and company, you may unfortunately find that you are only the labor cost of the company and will be the first person to be abandoned.

I asked myself, if the project I am responsible for doesn't let me continue to exercise and grow, will I stay here because of the welfare benefits of this company? I don't think I will.

People in the workplace always need to pay attention to their own development and growth. This kind of growth can be the growth of business knowledge, contact with people and things, and further strengthen language ability and understanding of foreign cultures. These exercises and tests are accumulated, which is our core competence after leaving the platform of the company. Whether it is a large enterprise or a small company, the platform is only a platform, not a complete proof of personal ability.

How much core competitiveness do you have left this platform? What else can I do? What else can you do?

As the old saying goes, if you stay in the green hills, you are not afraid of burning without firewood. I hope we can all build a mountain for ourselves, and even if the storm is coming, we can still live in peace.

This article first appeared in Germany: fys_deguo.

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