Haag-Streit AG

You'd be better off asking, "What's going wrong?"

After 12 years with the company, I was fired completely out of the blue—just one week before I was scheduled to have surgery on my leg. The reason given for my termination was a crisis related to U.S. customs. They fired me—someone who had always done an excellent job—but kept the person who had merely filled in for us during vacation periods. In all those 12 years, my workspace was never properly cleaned when I returned from vacation. I complained to my boss, but he never did anything about it. It was the same story every year. When I returned from vacation last year and showed him photos documenting the dirty condition of the premises, he claimed it was my own fault because I’d been away for so long. I tried to speak with the HR manager, but it was futile; she looked at the photos and agreed with me that she would have complained as well. Then she asked me, “What am I supposed to do now? Revoke your termination and fire the other person instead?” After my employment ended, I ultimately had to involve the union because I’d been given a poor performance review. The employment office (RAV) confirmed to me that, given my 12 years of service and my professional performance to date, the review should actually have been better. The company is no longer what it once was under its former owners. Today, good employees are being laid off—some who had worked there for over 20 years. So that’s how they thank you for being a good employee, while they keep someone who doesn’t even speak German and has no idea about cleaning. It’s a shame I can’t post the photos here.

Great company with exciting products, upbeat atmosphere, lots of creative opportunities.

Haag-Streit is a hidden champion and should have the courage to perform more offensively.