Yesterday was exactly ten years after I started in my present company. The first time I reached five years with one company, I received a 'golden' needle, but that seems very old-fashioned now. Yesterday, someone shook my hand and three people congratulated me, but working for a long time for one company is not the way the modern economy works. Companies no longer grow slowly to be successful. They are constantly shifting the industries in which they are working, and the size and make-up of their workforce. So yesterday was just another normal working day. I enjoy my work, and I like the atmosphere in my office, but I remember having more personal dialogue with my colleagues back in the days of the 'golden' needle.
One of the reasons why the presentation of something solid was more important in those long ago days is that there were fewer perks at work. For instance, private telephone calls were much less approved of than nowadays, and the marketing departments never seemed to organise anything special for the staff. It is not so much the intrinsic value of the presents as breaking the monotony of routine, and being acknowledged like the economics textbook factory workers whose productivity increased when the lights were turned up, and increased again when they were turned down.
Because I started work in my present company on All Hallows' Day, I suppose it has more significance than it has for most of the people in Europe. When I mention All Hallows' Day, the usual response is ignorance of the term. In Germany, by the way, it is a public holiday in five of the sixteen Länder, all of which are in the South and West of the country.
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