Worst company I ever worked for (because toxic for me).
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
There is free charging for electric vehicles, free water and coffee and 30 days of vacation.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
In my opinion: poisonous, toxic, untrustworthy, fickle, noncommittal, and indecisive. I've heard this a lot: 80/20, Pareto. A lot of sugarcoating for their own interests / self-adulation with past successes that sometimes date back several decades, but in my opinion currently have “little meat on the bone.” Blaming those who think critically or ask questions. I see aimlessness and fear of taking responsibility as the cause. Management by mushroom (whose head sticks out gets chopped off, don't address any problems, especially not across departmental boundaries). I didn't perceive any top-level strategy. Best to do everything and do it now. Run, no matter which direction, the main thing is to be fast, we have to reach our goal quickly. I found the working atmosphere to be very poor. From my perspective, the company should not advertise its location in Switzerland (and very few Swiss people work there).
Kommunikation
Although there was regular communication, it often raised more questions than it answered for me. I missed receiving transparent information about the ownership and situation of the company (e.g., to what extent is the company Chinese-owned? Is there technology transfer to China/offshoring? How does the Swiss location fit into the overall picture?). Internal company communication and daily business were mostly conducted in English because many employees do not speak German (Italian and Romanian are more common, but not everyone understands them).
Kollegenzusammenhalt
Within departments at the working level, things are often OK; most employees try to do a good job and also support each other across departments. However, I have also often experienced a culture of “blaming” in order to justify the existence of one's own department/function. I also found the constant negotiation of responsibilities and goals less than ideal. Many personnel changes and layoffs meant that you could quickly take on more responsibility. I perceived the situation for managers as a balancing act, with unrealistic goals from above and unachievable wishes from below. In principle, I perceived two stakeholder groups: 1) Experienced automotive employees (in the minority), often without the support of management, who often did not stay long. 2) Young engineers, especially in the development department.
Work-Life-Balance
Mixed. Some employees spent many hours in front of their monitors and performed poorly as a result. Performance = work per time. According to my observations, they predominantly had the following characteristics: winter, young, single, childless, far from home, lower wage bracket. Others went home on time and still did their job (characteristics: older, married, parents, local). I felt bad when I went home on time. Emails were written 24/7, which created pressure to be available in the evenings and on weekends. On the one hand, overtime was highly valued as a political statement (“look, department X has a lot to do”), but on the other hand, it was undesirable (limitation of hours).
Vorgesetztenverhalten
Middle management bears the brunt: dictates from above and little decision-making authority (the level above wants to have a say and make decisions about everything), no departmental budgets, requests and a lack of understanding from below. Supervisors must be good at managing conflicts and often do not have a sufficient basis to work well (caught up in day-to-day business, large teams, conflicting goals). On a personal level, almost all managers are top-notch and do their best.
Interessante Aufgaben
Workload is distributed very unfairly and due to the many recent layoffs (please google it yourself). The company has shrunk from well over 300 employees to now more than 100, with the Buchs and Stuttgart locations being disproportionately affected. I am asking myself if there will be layoffs in China. There is limited scope for organizing your own work independently.
Gleichberechtigung
Some people are more equal than others. Women are valued and can take on leadership roles.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
Several long-standing and older employees were fired, some of them shortly before retirement (personally, I would have preferred to fire others if I had had to do so). I often wondered why (was it because they had knowledge that didn't fit with the strategy?).
Arbeitsbedingungen
Pros: Modern open-plan office in a rented building in Buchs with coffee corners. Cons: Infrastructure “different” from other companies. I felt constantly monitored (PC, access permissions, access authorizations (almost every door has an access authorization system which could theoretically also be used to track people's movements...). Bad: Start of working hours is clocked in on the computer, and employees have to wait for the computer to boot up and log in.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
Environment: outwardly, a green facade (PV panels, etc.). Social: older employees were fired shortly before retirement, and previous waves of layoffs took place without a social plan, as far as I am aware. From what I have read in other reviews here, the company attempted to alter reviews. In my opinion, the social aspect of BRUSA is no longer what it used to be under Swiss management.
Gehalt/Benefits
Salaries have been paid late several times in recent years. And jobs in Europe are not secure—there have been several waves of layoffs in Switzerland and Germany. I cannot judge how secure jobs in China are. That's why I would personally think twice before taking another job with this company. And I wouldn't let myself be poached from another job, even for more money, because that's not worth much if the next paycheck or the job itself is uncertain.
Image
Some time ago it used to be good, but today, in my opinion, it's more like self-adulation and lobbying.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
I have never noticed any official criteria for promotions/career paths. Promotions tend to happen when the old manager leaves the company (in which case someone else often takes over the job in addition to their existing duties, which in some situations leads to conflicting goals or excessive demands). External and paid training is rather rare, but not out of the question. German courses were available free of charge and were widely used. My perception was that not much emphasis was placed on personal development, but rather that a dog-eat-dog mentality was accepted and encouraged.