How do you feel about the impact of the pandemic?
We are in an incredibly critical situation. Everyone is quite insecure; you feel confronted with new information every hour. A company must, of course, continuously think about how it can go on in the future. What will affect us all, what happens if someone has to be quarantined, how can the company continue to operate safely in this case? There is a natural potential for fear in this since the future cannot be predicted anyway, the forecast seems to change every three days. We all hope, of course, that the global measures will help us to get the Corona crisis under control so that not that many people have to die eventually. As soon as the increase in illnesses has slowed down, we can look ahead again, take care of our businesses and drive the economy forward back. I am not a prophet, and therefore I cannot foresee what will happen in a month or two months.
What measures has GALAB now taken internally to meet the new challenges?
When we became aware of how critical the situation is, we immediately formed a Corona team that meets every day and takes care of employee worries. It started with disinfection plans and the question of how to create an appropriate spatial distance between the employees to avoid the risk of infection in the office. We have adjusted our working hours so that those employees who do not have the option of moving to the home office can avoid each other. Also, we were able to create more space to minimize the risk of infection further. I believe that this can also help us to prevent the pandemic from developing so quickly.
What is your recommendation to your employees?
The most important thing is still to protect yourself, but also others, to keep your distance, not to sneeze at anyone and to wash your hands continuously, because viruses can be everywhere and therefore you can become infected everywhere. The most important thing is to protect people who are at increased risk. These are the older people, or the people who have a pre-existing condition such as reduced lung function. These are the people we have to take care of them. We have to be careful not to approach these people, to help them get through these difficult times. Many don’t even know they’re Corona positive because they don’t even notice. By keeping the distance, a lot can be achieved.
