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> The idea of Mittelstand business is to be conservative, low in debt, turn a profit, keep a company private, usually under multi-generational family control an
by lliamander 4y ago
> The idea of Mittelstand business is to be conservative, low in debt, turn a profit, keep a company private, usually under multi-generational family control and from the very beginning make decisions for the long term, and keep employees around for life.
TIL that my current and previous employer are both (more or less) Mittlestand businesses.
I must say, I really do prefer working for these kinds of companies. The lack of outside influence, the robustness in the face of economic uncertainty, the long-term focus, etc. all I think contribute to a more responsible leadership than I've come to expect from any other type of enterprise.
- davidw 4y agoHow does one go about finding these places in the US? I think they are not the ones employing recruiters to sing their praises and send zillions of emails.
- lliamander 4y agoI wish there was an easier way to find them. In my experience, it was former colleagues who recruited me. At the time I didn't have any sense of how business model might affect the work environment, all I knew was that my colleagues really liked their new jobs, but in retrospect it clearly makes a difference. That doesn't mean it's all roses. My last company brought in a terrible middle-manager who was at least part of the reason I left. If I were searching in the market right now, I'd probably apply to a bunch of different companies and ask some variation of the following questions: 1. Are you privately-owned (and plan to stay that way)? 2. Are you profitable? There's obviously a bunch of other questions that are important to job satisfaction (is the work relevant to the companies revenue goals, work/life balance, etc.) but those two questions determine whether the company has at least the economic independence to make the right decisions over the long-term.