Page 106 - Socially-responsible-restructuring-Effective-strategies-for-supporting-redundant-workers

Socially responsible restructuring
Effective strategies for supporting redundant workers

6.2.5. Impact and effects
After the transfer company and the subsequent five-month period of continued
counselling, the employment rate was extremely high. Some 90% of the
participants had found new jobs, and only a minority entered fixed-term contracts.
This success is partly attributed to the high levels of worker qualification and the
positive overall labour market situation.
The rate of participants who started their own business was also relatively
high at 8%. In contrast older employees who had been employed at Siemens
before for a long period were extremely difficult to reintegrate into the labour
market. Used to salaries well above the market average and other additional
benefits, their monetary flexibility was very low. Only 10% of them found re-
employment in the period under consideration.
Job fairs and related activities were very effective. Many well-known
companies showed their interest and presented themselves as potential
employers, including some with no presence in Germany. This interest also had
an indirect effect by boosting worker motivation. Also highly successful was a
concerted mailing to all companies organised under the employers’ association of
the Bavarian metal and electronics sector. It presented the potential of the
transfer company participants as valuable employees. The response was huge,
with 10 000 vacancies offered.
Main success factors for the transfer company underlined the efforts made by
the former mother company Siemens in supporting outplacement: an in-house
clearing agency matched Siemens vacancies with redundant employees from
BenQ Mobile. Another important factor was the support of employers’
associations, which was critical in opening up contacts to other companies.
Bavarian employers have come to view transfer companies as a valuable
restructuring instrument and are actively promoting it as a means to create win-
win situations.
The BenQ Mobile insolvency had turned into a highly politicised issue and
increasingly attracted media attention, which made careful public relations work
necessary. This development led all interested stakeholders (the insolvency
practitioner, Siemens, the labour union, the Bavarian government) to interfere
frequently in the transfer company’s operations. This was not detrimental to the
results, but required great effort to coordinate all interests.

6.2.6. Innovation and effectiveness
BenQ is quite unique, as the workforce concerned was highly qualified on
average. The emphasis on different support measures took account of this fact. It
is also reflected in the extremely high re-employment rate reported by Train.

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