Head of the Trigema Economics Group
“If someone can work from home, it doesn’t matter”
From: 08h09 | Reading time: 2 minutes
Textile entrepreneur Wolfgang Grupp
Source: image alliance/dpa/Matthias Bein
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Textile entrepreneur Wolfgang Grupp thanks him for his clear words. In an interview, the patriarch, who will hand over his company Trigema to the next generation at the end of the year, spoke out against many things – including modern workplace concepts.
Advertising featuring a chimpanzee made his company Trigema known throughout the country, as did its charismatic boss: Wolfgang Grupp, 81, has been running his textile company in Burladingen (Baden-Württemberg) for five decades. But everything will end at the end of 2023, when Grupp will hand over its company to the next generation: daughter Bonita and son Wolfgang Junior will assume dual leadership, as he confirmed again in an interview with “Tagesspiegel” in Berlin.
In an interview with the newspaper, the businessman, who produces exclusively in Germany, was also asked about his recipe for success. When asked what he does better than others, the 81-year-old responds: “I embrace change and solve problems. When it rains, I open my umbrella and don’t complain about the rain.” There is a shortage of workers in Germany at the moment, but he can still find seamstresses.
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“Why? Because our jobs are safe. We haven’t had waves of layoffs like others. But I think policy should also help make work more valuable. A seamstress told me recently that she would like to work more, but that way her widow’s pension would be reduced. “That’s out of the question!” continued the head of Trigema.
Furthermore, according to Grupp, entrepreneurs who are personally liable should be treated better for tax purposes than others.
“Because no one notices if they are working or not”
When asked whether Trigema was also discussing new working methods and time concepts, such as the four-day week, Grupp responded negatively: “No! If I say ‘yes’ to everything, whether it’s a four-day week or a work-life balance, I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more is required.”
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When asked, Grupp also added that he does not have a home office. “If someone can work from home, it doesn’t matter. The more people study, the more they want to work from home – but with me they could register as unemployed because no one notices whether they work or not,” was his provocative response.
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Grupp then qualified his statement: “It wouldn’t work for the 700 seamstresses anyway. But that is also out of the question for the administration’s 38 employees. I’m at the company every day and I need my senior employees to be there every day. This speeds up decisions. I decide quickly, everyone gets an answer immediately.”
According to “Capital” magazine, 1,200 people currently work at Trigema, and the company’s turnover in 2022 was around 127 million euros.
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To display embedded content, your revocable consent for the transmission and processing of personal data is required, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third-party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the privacy button at the bottom of the page.