Why I’ll miss the ‘defiantly brazen’ Schenker
The picture heading this article forever memorialises a sad day for Panalpina’s long-term staff, customers ...
By Alex Lennane
Images of the Panalpina sign being removed from its Basel headquarters last week triggered an outpouring of sadness on LinkedIn.
Many accuse DSV of “destroying a proud and profitable company”.
One writer noted: “A bizarre picture which symbolises the humbleness of destruction. Sure if you follow the money, you’ll find the answer to what happened, but the harm this has caused for so many families and the impact of so many personal lives, it is hard to describe in words, totally unnecessary.”
Another said: “The spin and gloss in the press, and internally at PAC, was all about a joining of forces. Now the truth has revealed itself.”
Several of the respondents had been staff made redundant in one of the waves of cuts triggered by the DSV takeover.
“Many of us were shunted out, and we are still struggling to find a way out with all our commitments. And it has impacted our personal lives , we are left with a sense of defeat, especially because we feel let down by the people who we stood with all through these years.”
Yet another wrote: “Panalpina will remain in my core, it wasn’t an organisation it was a university….it’s heart-breaking and sad to see that blue majestic logo go down.”
Comment on this article
David Brent
July 31, 2020 at 2:11 pmSymptomatic of a business that failed with poor C-Level management, internal politics (“I want to shine and screw everyone else”) and an old boys network internally.
The conversion to SAP ERP was rushed through because the CFO wanted it done quicker – people put under ridiculous amounts of pressure for no good reason.
COnstiently poor decisions within IT on system usage and prioritisation – led by selfish management looking after themselves and ignoring what was good for the greater.
Now employees are crying that they are being made to leave PAC because this is all they know and are too scared to go into a modern world and away from their cosy bubble of security.
It simply needed to happen – Panalpina refused to move to the 21st Century (you should see how to book travel – using an agent in the US with no online possiblity)……
Panalpina is finally dead.