Tognum sets up company child-care center

• First corporate child-care facility in Friedrichshafen
• Up to 40 places for employees' children  
• Investment of around four million euros

Friedrichshafen, 2 May 2012.  The specialist for propulsion and power solutions Tognum, is setting up a company child-care center in Friedrichshafen, scheduled to be opened at the beginning of next year. The center is the first of its kind to be run by a company in the city.   Day-care facilities are to be provided for up to 40 children of Tognum employees – and half of those places are reserved for very young children from six months to three years of age. The company is investing around four million euros in the new center.  

“With the shortage of skilled workers that is looming, we do not want to dispense with the know-how of highly-trained staff who also have families to look after. Corporate child-care facilities play an instrumental role in helping parents return to employment soon after a new arrival,” said Joachim Coers, CEO of Tognum AG, during today’s tour of the building. “Both sides benefit from corporate child-care – parents can rest assured that their children are in good hands while they work, and the company can continue to count on the expertise of its experienced staff.”

Andreas Brand, Lord Mayor of Friedrichshafen, said: “By investing in corporate child-care, Tognum proves itself to be a socially responsible, family-friendly company that makes it possible for well-qualified young mothers to return to work at an early stage. And without having to worry about if and how their child is being looked after. For Friedrichshafen as a leading business center, that is also an important signal for attracting skilled personnel. I’m very pleased to see this level of commitment, which also demonstrates that Tognum pro-actively supports the Friedrichshafen location.”  

Flexible opening times from 7 am to 6 pm will make a major contribution to reconciling the demands of work and family. And Tognum’s child-care center will be closed no more than 10 days a year. It is also just a five-minute walk from Plant 1 of Tognum subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen.  

To set up the child-care center, Tognum purchased a building in Prielmayerstraße 13, in Friedrichshafen. The center is to cover an area of around 1,000 square meters and besides restrooms and playrooms also has a discovery area with arts and crafts room, bathroom with water games, and a kitchen, where fresh meals for the children will be prepared daily by the housekeeper. Playtimes in the 800 square meter garden or in the nearby ‘Riedlepark’ are also to be part of the daily agenda. In keeping with its international orientation, the Tognum Group will also provide a bilingual education, with at least one of the child-care workers speaking only in English to the children, who will number up to forty.