Personio

Bewertungen

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

In general, Personio has grown extremely fast, which is now leading to significant friction as the company matures and transforms its business, processes, and teams. This phase clearly brings challenges across the organization.

That said, there is a lot of respect for what has been built so far and the scale the company has achieved in a relatively short time.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

To improve, the company should focus on creating more stability and clarity. Reducing constant changes and defining clear priorities would help teams stay focused and work more effectively.

Communication and processes need to become more streamlined and transparent, ensuring that all teams operate with the same level of information. Faster and more efficient alignment would better match the company’s ambitions.

Leadership should place greater emphasis on addressing root causes instead of short-term fixes, while also being more mindful of team well-being and mental load. Encouraging a more sustainable way of working would help reduce pressure and attrition.

Finally, creating an environment that allows for strategic work and learning from past mistakes—through more consistency in direction and leadership—would support both employee growth and long-term success.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

The working atmosphere is tense and shaped by frustration. Many employees are overworked, and poor communication and inefficient processes make alignments slow and difficult, often not matching the company’s ambition.

Pressure is high and often feels disconnected from the actual work and product maturity. At the same time, high attrition further increases workload, leaving many people stressed and impacting the overall atmosphere negatively.

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Still good, but declining. What I really find irritating is, that very positive reviews are places by leadership to create a fake impression of the current situation at Personio.

Work-Life-Balance

Maintaining work-life balance requires actively setting personal boundaries to protect your energy and well-being. Despite a two- to three-day office policy, there is a degree of flexibility.

However, the mental load and overall pressure remain significant challenges, making it difficult to sustain a healthy balance.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

Career growth is difficult, as constant changes often leave you in a mode of simply keeping up rather than developing further. Taking a more sustainable and holistic approach to work does support and can even make growth harder to achieve in this environment.

Gehalt/Benefits

Compensation is generally good, but it comes with a high workload and significant mental pressure. Benefits, such as Wellpass, corporate benefits or company pension are offered.

Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein

A value lived with respect to Personio foundation, yet hard to evaluate the real value of it.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

Despite the challenges, the remaining teams make a clear effort to keep morale up. Team spirit is still present and has been generally strong, but it is increasingly affected by the overall situation and ongoing pressures.

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

Not much of them and therefore no space to evaluate this.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Leadership behavior strongly depends on the team. While some direct managers provide support, there are broader challenges at the senior leadership level.

Transformation efforts often focus on quick fixes rather than addressing root causes. There is limited reflection on the organization’s current challenges or the mental strain within teams, which contributes to ongoing attrition and people leaving the company.

Decisions are largely top-down, and due to frequent changes in leadership and direction—especially in areas like account management—there is little continuity or structured learning from past mistakes.

Arbeitsbedingungen

The working conditions reflect many of the challenges mentioned above, particularly in terms of workload, pressure, and constantly changing structures.

On the positive side, the company offers standard perks such as free fruit and drinks, a canteen, and modern equipment, which support day-to-day comfort at work. Also the office is very friendly and modern.

Kommunikation

Communication is challenging due to constant changes, making it difficult to stay up to date. Processes can shift within just a few weeks, creating uncertainty and confusion.

Slack noise is very high, which makes it hard to focus and filter out what’s truly important. At the same time, different teams often operate with varying levels of information, leading to inconsistencies and frustration—especially when interacting with customers.

Gleichberechtigung

Certainly a value lived.

Interessante Aufgaben

Roles can be interesting, especially if you enjoy transformation work and setting up new processes. The environment is complex and intellectually challenging.

However, a lack of clear priorities makes it easy to lose focus. Combined with an intense workload, it often feels like constant firefighting rather than having the space to grow and work strategically.

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Team cohesion is strong, as shared struggles tend to create a sense of solidarity among colleagues.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

The employer should place much more focus on its people again. Right now, profitability appears to come before everything else, which is why I would not recommend this company to prospective applicants.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

The working atmosphere is heavily shaped by pressure, KPIs, and unrealistic, unachievable targets.

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The company’s external image is likely still positive, which encourages many people to apply. However, if you are looking for a secure job, this is not the place to join, as regular layoffs are common and often impact employees during their probation period.

Work-Life-Balance

Work-life balance exists, but mainly because of the lack of effective Account Management leadership and structure. People seem to come and go as they please — some start at nine and leave at ten, while others show up around lunch and leave again by 2 p.m. In that sense, work-life balance depends entirely on how you define it, because there is very little accountability.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

Career growth appears to be driven more by politics and pleasing the right people than by actual performance in the Account Management Department. Hard work alone is rarely rewarded, and the professional development budget has been cut to the point that it essentially no longer exists.

Gehalt/Benefits

Compensation and benefits have been cut significantly. Salary bands in Account Management are no longer being adjusted, overall pay is below market level, and promotions often come with only a higher bonus target rather than an increase in base salary — which is then presented as a pay raise.

Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein

It is difficult to make a fair assessment in this area, as related initiatives and efforts appear to have been cut.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

There is a strong sense of solidarity among colleagues, as shared struggles tend to bring people together.

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

This is difficult to assess, as the workforce consists almost entirely of young professionals and entry-level employees.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Many of the Account Management leaders are still very young and lack real leadership experience. As a result, there is often a tendency toward micromanagement instead of effective leadership. At the same time, genuine coaching and day-to-day support are largely missing.

Arbeitsbedingungen

Working conditions are affected by outdated office equipment, while benefits are continuously being reduced.

Kommunikation

Unfortunately, most information is first spread through rumors rather than official communication. There always seems to be a leak within leadership, and ongoing changes are often known informally long before they are communicated properly, sometimes only becoming official a week later - especially in the Account Management Department.

Gleichberechtigung

No clear statement can be made regarding equality.

Interessante Aufgaben

The role of the Account Manager is challenging, but not in a positive way. The day-to-day work often feels overwhelming, with too much to handle at once and frequent frustration when dealing with difficult customers.

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

They offer a lot of free soft drinks and coffee.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

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Other companies hiring the top performer

Gehalt/Benefits

good because its saas

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

not existing

Vorgesetztenverhalten

n/a

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Once you prove yourself at Personio, you have built skills and developed in a way that sets you up for a great career elsewhere in the software space and beyond. A fascinating amount of the people that have left Personio went on to become entrepreneurs and others were headhunted or hired to companies like Google, Salesforce or other big players, so truly no bad outlooks for anyone who makes it here.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Image

Personio has a really strong brand and receives a lot of recognition which can be felt from headhunters and other companies that are chasing many of our talents.

Work-Life-Balance

There are of course many tasks and there is practically no boring or slow day, but Personio offers a lot of trust in how and where you work as long as your results good in the end.

Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein

Really high consciousness even to the highest management level when it comes to reviewing how we can be environmentally and socially as sustainable as possible. A great example is the Personio Foundation, which is not something I have seen with many companies.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

So many young, ambitious and kind people its actually unreal. You could meet anyone in a Personio office and chances are 95% that they will be really competent at what they are doing and really really kind.

Arbeitsbedingungen

Nice office spaces, really good equipment and tools to allow for productive and fast processes.

Interessante Aufgaben

Roles are frequently reviewed and working for a German or European Unicorn on a path to becoming a category leader is very fulfilling.

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

If this reads as vaguely as an exec AMA or your last performance review at Personio, blame the culture - it's infectious.

You get to learn endurance in chaos, tolerance for absurdity, and how to smile through compounding debt (tech and emotional).

It's great for early-career folks that want to build resilience via trauma bonds. For mid/senior professionals wanting pay, progress, and sanity? Run - better gigs await.

Personio has a knack for turning everyday chaos into a team-building exercise. Your immediate colleagues? They're absolute gems. Smart, hilarious, and always ready to share a virtual eye-roll during yet another surprise meeting.

It's like being in a foxhole with the best squad; you bond over dodging curveballs and celebrating small wins, like finally getting that one bug fixed before lunch.

Plus, if you're into personal development via trial-by-fire, this place is a goldmine. You'll master the art of adapting to shifting sands, all while honing your skills in diplomatic Slack messages.

And hey, the coffee's not bad, free fuel for those "just one more ticket" sessions.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

Halt the reorg carousel: Four restructures in five years, plus multiple layoff waves. We're humans, not Lego pieces. Pick a structure and stick to it.

Nuke the tech debt: Our codebases are a comical creation of duct tape and half-migrations; every "simplification" spawns more monsters. Engineering needs a real plan, not vibes.

Pay like you mean it: LARPing as MAANG? Then cough up MAANG-level comp. Current salaries are "okay" at best, especially for the burnout tax on people that move things.

Cut the AMA riddles: When asked about IPO delays, layoffs and RTO mandates, execs serve buzzword salads. Give straight answers. Or at least pretend to.

End strategy whiplash: Six-month pivots mean nothing finishes; projects rot half-done while we chase the next shiny distraction.

Require manager expertise: No more non-tech bosses grading SWE performance like it's abstract art. I've had zero-SWE managers fumbling reviews—hilarious, if it weren't my career.

Ban vibe-coding: Non-devs dreaming up "solutions" with LLMs, Lovable and Vercel that ignore physics? Engineers waste half their time translating mystical tales into code.

Tone down mandtory AI usage: It's turned juniors into copy-paste factories, multiplying mediocrity faster than rabbits.

Own the layoffs: Stop euphemisms like "restructuring for skills" - it's cost-cutting for that elusive IPO.

Fix the review horoscope: Story points are fiction, goals shift like sand. It's a demoralizing circus where visibility trumps actual work.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

Flashback to 2020: electric optimism. Cut to 2025: existential dread with a side of free snacks. Lunch chats are basically group therapy for "am I next?" paranoia. The office feels like a fancy prison where everyone's plotting their parole.

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Valued at billions thanks to our hefty funding rounds, we're chasing that unicorn glow. But the IPO chatter? Keeps getting kicked down the road.

Our customers publically complain about our bugs and outages, yet we're cranking out new features like it's a race. Building HR tools while treating staff like puzzle pieces in a never-ending game? Ironic, isn't it?

Work-Life-Balance

Depending on your work attitude, this could be 5 stars or 2 stars.

You can totally have Slack off and coast if that's your jam. Some folks have turned it into an art form, gliding through with minimal effort, some of which even made it into higher ranks during our frequent reorgs.

But if you dare to excel? Buckle up for long weeks as your new normal, with rewards that feel more like a pat on the back than a real boost. Choose wisely: easy mode or hard mode, but don't expect the scales to balance evenly.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

Paths exist, but they're more maze than highway. L4 members might climb to higher levels, but once there? Stagnation city, unless a reorg shakes things up (not always for the better). External hires often snag the shiny Senior/Staff/Lead roles, leaving internals dancing for attention.

Pro tip: If you're offered an L5+ role in a different team, make sure it's not a broken team who's manager just fled the country.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

Intra-team: gold-star humans, collaborating through hellfire.
Cross-team: straight-up blame-laundering via dependencies. When exec-suite scrutiny hits, it's every department for itself - beautifully disastrous.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Our team finally landed a solid EM. Someone who actually codes, designs, and debugs like a pro. A miracle!

But the journey? Four reporting changes in five years, evaluations from folks who'd faint at a stack trace, and feedback as vague as a fortune cookie. "Be more visible" is the mantra, but good luck decoding it. Should I juggle in stand-ups or start a TikTok channel?

Arbeitsbedingungen

It's the perfect storm of startup grit and corporate bureaucracy, minus the upsides. The tech stack's a tangled web of legacy and half-done migrations, where "simplifying" somehow complicates everything.

High performers juggle multiple roles amid panic mode, questioning their sanity daily.

High turnover at the top means visions change like weather, leaving us shipping quick wins over solid solutions. Metrics? Often arbitrary. Goals are fuzzy. It's demoralizing, but hey, at least it's character-building.

Kommunikation

Buried in 50+ Slack channels? Check. My strategy: pray for a ping or eavesdrop in meetings.

Personio's executives do an objectively decent job and communicating change in a timely, transparent manner.

But when it comes to the juicy questions, like RTO mandates, IPO or long-term vision, the responses are polished to the point of slippery.

It's professional, sure, but often leaves you piecing things together, leading to a high amount of rumours and gossip. It's like my performance reviews: vague enough to gaslight you into thinking you're the problem.

Gehalt/Benefits

The pay is adequate. Not setting the world on fire, but surprisingly more competitive than other German companies.

The benefits stick to the basics. Legal minimums with a few extras in short.

For the stress? You could do better elsewhere, especially if you're gunning for that big-tech vibe without the matching perks.

Interessante Aufgaben

2020: creative freedom!

2025: ticket drone, PR bot, reality-checker for fantasies created by LLMs. The strategy flips every six months, dooming projects to half-baked graves.

Embracing and in parts requiring AI for work amplifies slop from questionable hires. As one soul put it: principals wasting time on needle-non-moving silliness. Comical, if it weren't soul-crushing.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Great office, great location, flexible working hours (also part time as parents), very great team spirit and colleagues, transparent communication and a lot of cultural / team events to foster the culture

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

Growing more slowly and hiring with more intent and long term planning, to avoid any future layoff rounds hopefully!

Arbeitsatmosphäre

Nice atmosphere within the company, great team spirit and supportive, open minded and transparent feedback culture

Image

I think the image used to be super great (internally and externally), but got a bit worse since the last rounds of layoffs, which is I think understandable, when things like that happen in tech companies

Work-Life-Balance

I personally did find a good balance in terms of workload, but I know some colleagues that were highly under stress and pressure, it depends on your role and responsibility and personal mindset to handle stress I would say

Karriere/Weiterbildung

I think if you are a lot into developing your career, you can grow and develop fast - but it highly depends on your drive and visibility within the company sometimes and of course your manager.

Gehalt/Benefits

good salary

Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein

Personio does a lot in that regard, having a own commitee taking care of that topic with several initiatives, a veggie kitchen, a foundation supporting projects etc.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

great team work and everyone is very open minded, supportive and simply enjoyable to work with

Vorgesetztenverhalten

I had several team leads and managers, and it depends of course, but I never made any bad experiences

Arbeitsbedingungen

very nice office location, great design, tech equipment, food and beverages

Kommunikation

transparent communications, meeting culture

Gleichberechtigung

very diverse environment

Interessante Aufgaben

You get a lot of trust quickly and are very independent in defining your role, shaping your tasks and todos and bringing in your skills and strengths

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Individual Growth path
Employee Appreciation
Cultural Engagement
Motivation to speak up
Transparent communication

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Strong culture, great people, open communication, meaningful work and many opportunities for career growth and learning.

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

I left Personio before the recent layoffs but still follow the company and many of the people there closely. I truly feel for everyone who had to leave! It’s never easy, especially in a place that means so much to its people.

With all the recent discussions around the reorganization and layoffs, I just wanted to share my own perspective. My experience at Personio was, for the most part, very positive - of course with the normal ups and downs that come with a fast-growing company.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

The culture is demanding but fair. High expectations combined with trust and a lot of freedom. Feedback is part of everyday work, and if you see something that needs improvement, you’re encouraged to speak up and help drive change.

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Strong employer brand and well-known training ground for talent. The CEO is one of the most visible scale-up founders in Germany — active in political and environmental initiatives and frequently featured in podcasts and the press.

Personio has become the brand for HR teams and professionals in Germany.

Work-Life-Balance

The workload can be intense, especially at the end of the month or quarter or during big projects and reorganizations.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

In my case, I had many opportunities over almost seven years to learn, grow, and shape my roles. During that time, I moved across several teams in both individual contributor and leadership positions, which helped me build a broad skill set. New roles and promotions aren’t simply handed out — showing initiative and taking ownership are recognized and rewarded.

One downside in more recent years was that the personal development budget was reduced, which limited formal learning opportunities somewhat.

Gehalt/Benefits

Pay and benefits are competitive, with solid equity options and many small perks (e.g., JobRad, Wellpass). There are also many things you only realize you miss after leaving - great offices, food and drinks, supportive colleagues and a genuine sense of shared purpose.

Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein

The founders are also active through the Personio Foundation, the company’s non-profit entity. It’s not just a side project, but it reflects the same sense of purpose and impact that shows up in the business. Seeing this commitment from the top made a real difference for me.

That said, there could be even more focus on applying environmental improvements in daily office life (e.g., automatic deactivation of screens after a certain time).

Kollegenzusammenhalt

Personio is full of smart, driven, diligent and kind people who genuinely care about doing things right. I always enjoyed working with my team, managers and internal stakeholders.

In times of high pressure, there was occasionally a tendency for some individuals to focus more on achieving their own goals rather than keeping the bigger picture or cross-team impact in mind.

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

Older colleagues are treated the same way as younger ones. Due to the nature of a scale-up environment, the number of younger employees is significantly higher than older ones.

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Senior leadership and the remaining founders are thoughtful and self-critical. The founders stay closely involved, which helps keep the original values alive. I experienced several all-hands meetings where they shared honest, self-reflective feedback, as well as open “Ask Me Anything” sessions where every question could be asked and was answered by the executive team or even by investors.

My direct managers were mostly supportive while maintaining high ambitions. In some situations, a bit more proactive focus on professional development and time for personal relationship building would have been valuable.

Arbeitsbedingungen

Really nice offices with free coffee, drinks and cereals. There are great spaces to collaborate, quiet areas for focused work and plenty of meeting rooms and phone booths. Adjustable-height desks would be a great addition.

Kommunikation

Not every decision will please everyone, but communication is generally transparent and the “why” is explained. Decisions are shared as soon as possible, and business metrics, challenges and priorities (company strategy + OKRs) are regularly communicated to the whole company.

At times, more context around specific product strategies or investment decisions would have helped people better understand the bigger picture.

Gleichberechtigung

Inclusive and respectful environment. Everyone’s opinion is heard, regardless of title or background. I have never experienced any negative treatment based on sexual orientation, culture or anything else.

Interessante Aufgaben

If you take initiative, show ambition and actively look for new projects or internal role changes, there are plenty of opportunities to work on interesting and meaningful topics. I’ve seen many colleagues take on diverse projects and even switch roles over time. The company gives room for that, but need to be proactive in seeking it out.

As the company has grown, roles have naturally become more specialized and focused. That can make the work feel less holistic at times, especially for people who thrive on variety and enjoy wearing different hats.

Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Schönes, modernes Office in zentraler Lage

Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich

Verbesserungsvorschläge

Personio muss dringend an den grundlegenden Strukturen und der Unternehmenskultur arbeiten. Es wird Jahre dauern, um die aktuellen Probleme in Leadership, Kommunikation und Mitarbeiterführung zu heilen. Wer als Unternehmen ernsthaft glaubwürdige HR-Kultur leben möchte, sollte jetzt beginnen, klare Verantwortlichkeiten schaffen, Führungskräfte entwickeln und Vertrauen wiederaufbauen. Nur durch ehrliche Wertschätzung, transparente Kommunikation und echte Förderung von Mitarbeitenden kann das Unternehmen langfristig überleben und sein Potenzial ausschöpfen.

Arbeitsatmosphäre

Die Atmosphäre ist von Unsicherheit, Druck und Misstrauen geprägt – inspirierend oder motivierend wirkt hier kaum noch etwas. Viele Mitarbeitende wirken innerlich bereits distanziert, als hätten sie mit dem Unternehmen abgeschlossen. Professionalität und Begeisterung sind weitgehend verschwunden; was einst ein von Engagement getragenes Umfeld war, ist heute ein monotoner Einheitsbrei ohne spürbare Energie oder Sinn.

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Personio präsentiert sich nach außen als innovativer Marktführer im HR-Bereich mit starker Unternehmenskultur und Fokus auf Mitarbeiterentwicklung. Intern steht die Realität jedoch in starkem Widerspruch dazu: Viele Werte, die das Unternehmen nach außen kommuniziert, werden nicht gelebt. Die Diskrepanz zwischen Markenversprechen und gelebter Praxis ist erheblich, was das Image nach innen und außen stark beschädigt.

Work-Life-Balance

Offiziell flexibel, in der Praxis durch Zielvorgaben und Druck kaum haltbar.

Karriere/Weiterbildung

Versprochen, aber nicht gelebt – fehlende Förderung und keine klare Entwicklungspfade. Es ist egal, wer du bist und wo deine Stärken liegen bzw. wohin du dich entwickeln möchtest.

Gehalt/Benefits

Die Vergütung und Sozialleistungen sind durchschnittlich.

Kollegenzusammenhalt

Früher stark, inzwischen von Angst und Frustration überschattet - jeder schaut aufgrund der internen Entwicklungen in erster Linie auf sich selbst.

Umgang mit älteren Kollegen

Erfahrung und Seniorität werden kaum geschätzt, Altersdiversität ist gering. Mehr Kompetenz, Erfahrung und erwachsenes Verhalten würden dem Unternehmen spürbar guttun. Man hat oft den Eindruck, dass genau diese Qualitäten an vielen Stellen fehlen – was sich sowohl in der Entscheidungsfindung als auch im Umgang miteinander bemerkbar

Vorgesetztenverhalten

Das Führungsverhalten ist geprägt von Überforderung, fehlender Erfahrung und mangelnder Professionalität – echte Leadership-Kompetenz ist kaum erkennbar. Menschlichkeit wirkt oft nur simuliert. Besonders bedauerlich ist, dass viele der einst inspirierenden Führungskräfte, die Teams wirklich motivieren und mitreißen konnten, das Unternehmen längst verlassen haben. Zurück bleibt vor allem im mittleren Management eine Ebene, der es an Erfahrung, Empathie und Führungsstärke fehlt – genau jene Elemente, die eine gesunde Kultur und Motivation eigentlich tragen sollten.

Arbeitsbedingungen

schönes, helles Office - freie Getränke & Snacks - Zugang zu Terasse
drinnen leider oft sehr stickig und am Ende sorgt die toxische Atmosphäre für ungesundes Arbeitsklima, es ist schwer der Negativität zu entfliehen

Kommunikation

Die interne Kommunikation ist intransparent und überwiegend reaktiv. Wichtige Informationen erreichen die Mitarbeitenden oft zu spät oder gar nicht. Ehrlicher, offener Austausch findet kaum statt – der einzige funktionierende Informationskanal ist der Flurfunk

Gleichberechtigung

Bevorzugung Einzelner, Fehlende Fairness Kriterien

Interessante Aufgaben

Leider ist von spannenden oder abwechslungsreichen Aufgaben kaum etwas geblieben. Weiterentwicklung und individuelles Coaching sind ebenfalls längst Vergangenheit. Statt Qualität oder nachhaltigem Erfolg zählt nur noch Quantität – stupides Abarbeiten ersetzt sinnvolle Arbeit. Fehlende Struktur und übermäßige Kontrolle entwerten jede Aufgabe. Das Ergebnis ist Monotonie statt Motivation – Masse statt Klasse.