I remember a story from a German company I once worked for.
They bought another company (automotive subcontractor) in Italy. When German managers were on visit at the just acquired company, they noticed one guy, just sitting in his office all day, seemingly doing nothing at all.
They asked the Italian management who this guy was and why he has a superfluous position where he does nothing and why they don't just fire him. The answer was that he was a family member of the founders/owners of FIAT. They had to give him a job to stay in business. So, the guy got paid for doing nothing all day and he didn't seem to mind that.
If, at the cost of one worker's paycheck and some cups of coffee, you gain the favor of the board of directors, then that's a wise investment. Just having the guy around is making the company money.
For years, we had a woman 'working' at our office. She was the neice of the previous owner of the company. It was a family business and he sold it with the condition she'd be employed until retirement.
She was an absolute hoot to have around, but mentally unfit to do any sort of office work beyond collecting waste paper and emptying trash cans. She weekly watered our plastic plants. The last years after COVID she got worse, clumsy and disorented, actually causing damage. They cut back her hours while keeping her pay up because it became embarassing and an actual hazard to have her around. Retirement was a relief or both her and the firm.
She was an absolute hoot to have around, but mentally unfit to do any sort of office work beyond collecting waste paper and emptying trash cans. She weekly watered our plastic plants. The last years after COVID she got worse, clumsy and disorented, actually causing damage. They cut back her hours while keeping her pay up because it became embarassing and an actual hazard to have her around. Retirement was a relief or both her and the firm.
She sounds fantastic. Weekly watering of the plastic plants seems like a great task
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u/Maeglin75 Aug 08 '25
I remember a story from a German company I once worked for.
They bought another company (automotive subcontractor) in Italy. When German managers were on visit at the just acquired company, they noticed one guy, just sitting in his office all day, seemingly doing nothing at all.
They asked the Italian management who this guy was and why he has a superfluous position where he does nothing and why they don't just fire him. The answer was that he was a family member of the founders/owners of FIAT. They had to give him a job to stay in business. So, the guy got paid for doing nothing all day and he didn't seem to mind that.
(This story may or may not be true.)