Home office? Four day week? Work-life balance? Not with Wolfgang Grupp. The outgoing Trigema boss explains in an interview why he doesn’t think much of this whole modern world of work.
Some people are likely to spend the bridge day before October 3rd in their home office. This wouldn’t work for Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp. In an interview, the company patriarch, who is leaving at the end of the year, launched a sweeping attack against flexible working and other phenomena of the modern working world.
In an interview with “” the 81-year-old entrepreneur, whose textile company Trigema employs around 1,200 people, explained: “I don’t have a home office. If someone can work at home, it’s unimportant.” The demands of academics today are particularly a thorn in his side. “The more people have studied, the more they want to work from home – but with me they could then immediately register as unemployed because no one notices whether they are working or not anyway,” says Grupp.
Therefore, Grupp’s managers at headquarters are no better off than the seamstresses who produce the Trigema textiles. “I’m in the company every day and I need my senior people on site, every day. That speeds up decisions,” says Grupp. Home office is therefore out of the question for the 38 administrative employees.
Grupp doesn’t believe in a four-day week
Working in person is still the greatest asset for Grupp, which is why you don’t even have to discuss things like the four-day week with him. “If I say yes to everything, whether it’s the four-day week or the work-life balance, I shouldn’t be surprised if more and more is demanded,” says Grupp, who has also made public statements about a very traditional one Role understanding between men and women was noticed.
The fact that Trigema’s work organization is what it is is probably also due to the personal preferences of the old-school entrepreneur. If Grupp wants to speak to an employee who is already off work, he puts a “red consultation card” on his desk. When the colleague shows up again the next morning, he can see that the boss wants something from him.
Children take over Trigema at the turn of the year
After 54 years with Grupp at the helm, an era is now ending at Trigema as the patriarch makes room for the next generation. “I’ll be handing over the company at the end of the year, but I’ll still be in business. But then I’ll no longer be in charge,” says Grupp in the Tagesspiegel interview. Grupp wants to transfer Trigema to his wife and two children. The son and daughter will continue to run the family business as dual leaders.
Grupp took over the management of Trigema in 1969 and has run the company as sole owner ever since. He is known for his pithy sayings and as a defender of Germany as a business location, who – as is unusual in the industry – has not relocated his production abroad as a matter of principle. The Trigema television commercial, in which a chimpanzee advertises the brand, also became famous.
Source: Stern
