A traditional company in Braunschweig has a long and proud history, but dark clouds have been gathering over the company for some time. At the beginning of the year, the first signs became apparent that the company was going through a difficult phase.
Can the company still save itself or is a piece of Braunschweig tradition coming to an end? And what will happen to the employees?
Braunschweig: Companies on the path to change
At Schimmel, a traditional piano maker in Braunschweig, things are currently looking anything but rosy. The company had to cut 30 jobs in the spring of this year – and now 26 more are to follow. This was announced at a company meeting. The affected employees will be offered severance pay and the opportunity to move to a transfer company. This is reported by the “Brunswick Newspaper“Despite these measures, around 50 employees remain at Schimmel – half as many as last year.
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The developments at Schimmel are part of a larger context of upheavals in the Braunschweig piano manufacturing industry. While the insolvency administrator of the also affected company Grotrian-Steinweg remains confident of finding a viable restructuring solution, the signs at Schimmel point to change.
Future in Braunschweig uncertain
The company, which has been 90 percent owned by the Chinese Pearl River Piano Group since 2016, is undergoing profound change. A striking difference between the two traditional companies is the way they deal with employees, as lawyer Rösler, who has represented the interests of the workforce of both companies for many years, emphasizes. While he emphasizes the open communication style at Schimmel, the situation at Grotrian-Steinweg is much more difficult. At Schimmel, the management is at least present on site, even if this is made more difficult by language barriers. Managing Director Wenbing Lan speaks only Chinese, which does not always make communication with employees easy. Nevertheless, from Rösler’s perspective, it is a positive signal that at least a physical presence is shown – a gesture that should not be underestimated in these times of change and uncertainty.
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Schimmel is currently an example of the difficult balancing act between tradition and globalization that many companies are going through. The future of the Braunschweig piano makers remains uncertain. But one thing is certain: the companies are facing major challenges that require patience and perseverance from those responsible, the employees and, last but not least, the customers.
If you want to know which other company in the Lion City has got into financial difficulties, take a look at the “Brunswick Newspaper” over.
