MAN is Shaping the Working World of The Future

Flexibility, a lot of freedom and choice: At the Munich site, the commercial vehicle manufacturer is setting up office work with an eye to the future.

Almost 4,600 employees of MAN Truck & Bus can now work extremely flexibly and permanently on the move. This is the result of a works agreement concluded between the company and the works council. The “New Work Mode” is firmly anchored in this agreement. This positions the long-established truck and bus manufacturer as a modern top employer that takes into account the different needs and wishes of its employees.

The possibility to work permanently independent of location applies not only to the home office in Germany, but also for up to 20 days a year in almost all countries of the European Union. In consultation with their manager, employees can thus in principle freely decide on their place of work. Employees are only required to work in the office one day per week on average. The regulation aims to give the workforce as much freedom as possible on the one hand, and on the other hand to encourage personal meetings whenever they make sense: for example, at project meetings or staff appraisals and works meetings.

“In the meantime, it has become apparent that cooperation from different locations works well in most cases,” says Arne Puls, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labour Director at MAN Truck & Bus. “Now we have agreed on a binding set of rules with co-determination that enables contemporary and self-determined working. The new model goes hand in hand with the leadership culture we want. A leadership culture based on mutual trust rather than control.”

MAN’s employee representatives also welcome the new regulation. “It gives a large number of colleagues valuable leeway around their work,” says Karina Schnur, chair of the works council. “This gives us the best possible balance between work and personal and family needs – a contemporary and sustainable model.”

Even before the Corona pandemic, MAN Truck & Bus had given its employees a lot of freedom in choosing their place of work with the Flexwork model, which proved to be very helpful, especially during the lockdowns.

Source: MAN Truck & Bus