For an employer, one of the nicest and most sincere compliments there is comes when employees remain loyal over a long period of time. Experience is irreplaceable in many areas, especially because it cannot be created through short-term measures. Nevertheless, long service anniversaries are not a given in Germany. According to a study on the trend in length of service conducted by the German Economic Institute, the average length of service in this country is just 11 years.
This puts Germany even above the European average, which currently stands at 10.6 years. The average length of service is traditionally even lower in the U.S., where employees stay with an employer for only about 4.5 years. This makes the work anniversary of our shift supervisor Willi—who joined PAPUREX on July 1, 1991— all the more special.
Willi Celebrates His 35th Work Anniversary
Thirty-five years ago, PAPUREX had been in business for just 10 years. Back then, it was unthinkable that any of our jobs in Mörlenbach would last 35 years. When Willi joined the company, the company wasn’t even extruding polyether-based tubing yet—today, it’s indispensable in pneumatics. Over this long period, Willi has been part of several developments at PAPUREX. From the early days, when only a few metric tons of polyurethane were processed annually, to the most recent record-breaking years, when production sometimes exceeded 500 metric tons of TPU.
He has also undergone remarkable personal growth. After starting his job in Mörlenbach in 1991 as a plastic moulder (now known as a machine operator), he has served as a shift supervisor with personnel responsibility since 2003. For his two successors in management, Ivo and Dan Biebl—both of whom were born after Willi started working at PAPUREX (in 1995 and 1997, respectively)—being able to draw on such experience is invaluable.
Sebastian has been with PAPUREX for 10 years
July 1 marks another notable work anniversary. In 2016—exactly 10 years ago—Sebastian joined the PAPUREX team as a machine operator. Since then, he too has proven his skills and was promoted to shift supervisor as early as 2020. Over the past 10 years, Sebastian has weathered several turbulent periods, such as the COVID-19 crisis, skyrocketing TPU prices in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, and, most recently, the conflict between the U.S. and Iran and the resulting raw materials crisis.
As a token of our gratitude, both employees celebrating their anniversaries received a small gift in recognition of their loyalty. We hope they’ll both stay with us for a long time to come!