2023 was a turbulent year for the German Research Association for Surface Treatment e.V. (DFO) due to staff shortages. "The unrest within our DFO spread to individual DFO members and led to uncertainties," Jens Rautengarten, President of the DFO, informs the members of the DFO in a greeting.
Generation change planned
Rautengarten also informed the DFO of its plan to gradually hand over the management of the company to younger hands. "We had already drawn up the timetable for this together in the fall of 2020. However, this reorganization failed," says Rautengarten. Ernst Hermann Timmermann, Managing Director of DFO, had been ill for many weeks. Several employees had left DFO as a result of the failed restructuring. A task force consisting of members of the Management Board and the Advisory Board had to take care of the continuation of day-to-day business. Rautengarten would like to thank them for this.
New employees
Timmermann has since recovered and the original plan could now be pursued. "At the end of October, we were able to start recruiting new employees for our DFO," says Rautengarten happily. A new technical employee started work at DFO on 01.12.2023. She is a graduate of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, where she studied paint chemistry. She successfully completed her Master's degree at a manufacturer of pre-treatment chemicals. Another employee will start work at DFO at the beginning of 2024. This new employee will continue to advance the work of DFO as an assistant to the Executive Board and may also succeed Ernst Hermann Timmermann in 2026. "All in all, despite all the turbulence, we are optimistic about 2024," Rautengarten concluded his welcome address.