On November 25, the honoring of 26 jubilarians as well as the farewell of 12 retirees took place at the castle Schnellenberg.
Jürgen Hillesheim as representative of the shareholders and the managing directors Helmut Hinkel and Markus Schaumburg used as usual the opportunity to explain the current company development of GEDIA.
The automotive industry suffers considerably from the consequences of the Corona and Ukraine crisis. Continuing supply chain problems and drastic cost increases in almost all areas are also keeping GEDIA on its toes. And on the side there is the huge transformation of the automotive industry into a new age of mobility.
Despite this difficult and uncertain market situation the GEDIA Group continues to grow successfully. With currently 4,400 employees a turnover of about 800 million Euro is predicted until the end of this year. This would put GEDIA well above the growth rate of the overall automotive market in 2022. As in the previous year, the company will benefit in particular from the unbroken trend towards electromobility. GEDIA is developer and supplier of numerous components for current electric vehicles especially in the well running premium segment, which is fortunately least affected by the chip crisis.
Due to the innovative technology mix and the high engineering competence in Attendorn it was possible to successfully win further strategically important new projects in the areas of lightweight car body construction, crash safety but also in the chassis. In addition to the resulting plant expansions, particularly in Hungary and India, the Attendorn location is also benefiting from these new orders. The central divisions are continuing to grow, and the number of employees at the company's headquarters is now well over 1,000.
However, all these pleasing market successes should not obscure the fact that planning uncertainty is currently very high in view of the enormous market turbulence. Therefore it is all the more important to always actively live the three GEDIA core values trust, responsibility and willingness to change in order to further improve products, processes and the international cooperation within the group. In this context, forward-looking knowledge management appears to be particularly important. In view of the increasing shortage of skilled workers, it is essential to regularly pass on many years of experience to younger junior staff. In Attendorn GEDIA has an enormous wealth of experience, because about 200 employees have been working for the company for more than 25 years.
In this sense the numerous represented employees celebrating their jubilee and retirees were thanked for their longtime commitment and motivation.