Client of the month (04/2022): Christian Witwicki, courierfactory

seniors@work: Mr. Witwicki, you are the CEO and – together with your wife – founder of courierfactory GmbH, a specialist in scheduled deliveries in the pharmaceutical sector. You are a "manufactory" with 38 employees in Switzerland and Germany, where speed, precision and a very individual approach to each customer are important. You have already hired three retired specialists through seniors@work, and you have recently placed two more advertisements with us. How did that come about?

Christian Witticki: I am over 60 myself and it annoys me every time I see how many companies treat experienced employees over 50. So much potential, experience and loyalty is simply "thrown away". That's not right! My ideal is to have people from 20 to 60 in the company, so that everyone can benefit from different perspectives and life experiences, regardless of whether they are young or old, male or female. Just like it used to be in a large family - that also suits our family business well.

seniors@work: So the issue of a shortage of skilled workers was less of a reason for you to hire retired applicants?

Christian Witticki: Finding good employees is a herculean task. It is not easy, especially in a company as specialized as ours, which operates 365 days a year. There is also no training for our exact requirements. We are therefore looking for open, lively go-getters who are ready to adapt to new tasks and teams. So far, we have fortunately found good people through word of mouth, but in the future, the shortage of skilled workers due to the retirement of the baby boomer generation will of course hit us much harder.

seniors@work: How did you come across seniors@work?

Christian Witticki: I think I saw something about the platform somewhere in the media, I can't remember exactly. But since I hired the first candidates from seniors@work in 2020, the platform is already part of my standard repertoire when I'm looking for employees.

seniors@work: We are of course very pleased about that! What kind of positions have you filled with retired candidates so far?

Christian Witticki: It varies a lot, but of course it is about positions that do not involve a great deal of physical exertion, but rather tasks in order intake and scheduling. For example, we are currently looking for someone to support a department manager and develop a completely new area of work there - so we really need young-at-heart, active people who are open to new challenges.

seniors@work: And do you always offer part-time positions to retired candidates?

Christian Witticki: Yes, that simply fits the needs of retirees best - and so far we have always found a workload that suits everyone. It is usually between 50 and 80 percent. Although young people nowadays also like to work 80 percent.

seniors@work: Not Many companies already have a lot of experience with employing retired professionals. What do you have to pay attention to?

Christian Witticki: As a company, you should be open to the life experience of older candidates. I cannot understand the concerns that are occasionally expressed that older people do not fit into the team, because I am very much committed to the cross-generational approach. Of course, the team has to get along, but I let all promising applicants do a trial work experience anyway - no matter how old! - and then we decide as a team whether it is a good fit or not. When it comes to digitalization, you cannot tar the older generation with the same brush. Today's 64-year-olds experienced all of this before they retired. And as I said, if you are open and willing to learn, you can cope well with it. And what many people forget is the issue of the BVG: these contributions are very high before retirement, but they are no longer applicable after retirement!