Really awkward work call right now. Long story short, we have had a need for additional Russian lawyers on the transactional side of the Legal Department given the volume of business we do over there, so we hired three new attorneys over there during the last few weeks. Standard protocol in Germany is that people start employment on first day of the month, and offers are typically made 2-3 months before start dates due to longer notice periods in Europe. So all of these were hired late last year/early this year, starting today.
Well, in the department-wide call that we have on the first Tuesday per month, all three introduced themselves. That in and of itself was a bit awkward, given the 8 Million KG Elephant in the room of “Y'all even gonna be needed at this stage”…until the below email came in. Literally while the third one was introducing herself...you could see all the heads on the MS Teams call checking emails while the call was going on and their slight reactions:
Subject: Internal Memo: Supply of Goods to Russia Stopped
Liebe Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter,
We will inform all customers today that due to the war in Ukraine and the associated sanctions against Russia, COMPANY has decided to stop all supply of goods to Russia. All shipments have been stopped with immediate effect and production planning has been adjusted accordingly.
We understand this decision will create significant challenges for our customers, however, given the current environment, we consider this as the appropriate decision to take. We hope that the conflict will be resolved soon, so that we can re-evaluate the situation and possibly re-initiate deliveries.
In addition, we would like to let you know that we are considering ways to help people who are suffering from the war. We will reach out to relief organizations to find out how we can help and support in this difficult situation.
On behalf of the Executive Board
/ Signed CEO
Immediately my individual chat messaging service lit up with variations of, “Hope these guys have euro contracts” (which, of course, they don't) or “Wonder what severance for 90 minutes of employment looks like?”
Still on the call. Fucking brutal.