It is a swelteringly hot Tuesday in June, 38°C, one of the hottest days of the year. TRUMPF is known for its employee-friendly working conditions, so we start with a topical question for Birte Anrig, one of the company’s three HR business partners: Could your employees take their laptops to the swimming pool and work from there today? Birte laughs: “Hmm, I would have to look into that!” She thinks for a moment. “We are very open-minded when it comes to remote working – we deliberately don’t refer to it as working from home as you can work from other places too. But not just anywhere. You have to be reachable by phone and have a reliable Internet connection, and a certain degree of security and privacy is also required. If you can arrange all that at the pool, then I suppose theoretically, yes, you could work from there.”

In love with Graubünden

Birte has been working for TRUMPF in Grüsch for two years. She grew up near Hamburg, and the switch from the North Sea to the Graubünden mountains was a change of scenery that could hardly be more extreme. But she has settled in after a very short time, or rather she has fallen head over heels in love with Graubünden. Birte likes just about everything here – the scenery (“I can’t get enough of the mountains”) and also the people of Graubünden. “They have a great sense of humour and some great local sayings, they are warm, friendly, helpful ...”. You can tell the list could go on and on. With her bright green eyes, Birte radiates a real sense of openness and warmth. Her role at TRUMPF – ensuring that the employees are motivated and satisfied – seems to be a natural fit.

The company really does a lot to promote employee satisfaction. One measure that has proven very popular is the option to buy up to five additional days of holiday leave each year, and the company also helps its employees stay fit and healthy with sports. “On Monday, for example, there is an after-work bodywork session with a trainer. We also have an ice hockey team and a football team, and we have already participated in several marathons,” says Birte, who likes to run herself.

Sport and fitness are important to TRUMPF employees – some, for instance, go for a quick ski during lunch in the winter, as the Grüsch-Danusa ski lift and a cross-country skiing trail are just around the corner. Overtime hours can also be taken off in lieu: “We are very flexible in this respect as well.” TRUMPF also takes care of its employees’ mental health. A counselling service is available to discuss any problems employees may be having at work or at home “absolutely anonymously, and we pay the bill”.

Best conditions for creativity

For Birte, there are two main reasons why TRUMPF is so progressive in this area: “Firstly, it is a family business. You can see that. Every employee is important, and loyalty is very strong on both sides. TRUMPF also stands for innovation, and this is reflected in the way we manage our employees. People can only be truly creative when they are happy at work.” TRUMPF also addresses the growing demand for remote and part-time work, which are both being discussed in more and more job interviews, as Birte herself has observed. And this is not just about working part-time to look after children, but also so that employees have the option to dedicate more time to their hobbies. For Birte that would be riding through Graubünden on an Icelandic horse and marvelling at the beauty of her new home.