Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Ferrari
Paradise: Ferrari named Best Place to Work
We must confess that, from time to time, many of us drift into daydreams and wonder what it must be like to work for Ferrari. But surely the reality can't be all that good, right? No, no ... it is. This according to the Great Place to Work Institute, which named the company Best Place to Work in Europe for 2007.
The decoration comes as the result of a corporate initiative called "Formula Uomo," which sought to better the working conditions and lives of the company's considerable workforce. As part of the initiative, over the past decade Ferrari has spent considerable sums of money on new facilities, employee training and family benefits. Just the revitalization of the facilities in and around the factory -- the building of Maranello Village serves as just one example -- has totaled some ?200 million. Employee perks also include staff education, extensive medical coverage and company events.
Ferrari can add this to the Best Place to Work in Italy award which it received in 2003, along with all the race trophies and road-car accolades that the company has won over its 60-year history.
And here we thought, after watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that those Oompa-Loompas had it pretty sweet. If anyone from Maranello is reading this, would you happen to be in need of any bloggers?
Press release after the jump.
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[Source: Ferrari]
What's working for Ferrari in the U.S. like? Check out our gallery below of the Ferrari Store in Beverly Hills.
Gallery: Ferrari Store opens in Beverly Hills
Press Release
Ferrari voted best place to work in Europe 2007
Ferrari is proud to announce that it has been voted Best Place to Work in Europe 2007 by the Great Place to Work Institute, having already won the Italian title. This award is a powerful endorsement of the enormous organisational and financial commitment made by the company in recent years to providing its employees with the best possible working conditions and to encouraging personal and professional growth.
Over a thousand companies throughout Europe participated in the survey which measures the degree of satisfaction of employees with their place of work and picks out the best working environments. This alone makes Ferrari's achievement particularly impressive. In 2003, the then Ferrari Maserati Group was voted the Best Place to Work in Italy but this latest award is the ultimate acknowledgement of the company's ongoing commitment to the personal growth of its staff.
At the end of the 1990s President Luca di Montezemolo launched a major project known as "Formula Uomo" in Ferrari. The project took its inspiration from the company's Formula 1 ambitions and successes. It covers three basic areas: workplaces and structures, professional training and international growth, and personal and family benefits. The principle underpinning of the programme sees human beings as the fulcrum of the company's work system and aims to enhance staff's abilities and stimulate their creativity by placing importance on the contribution each individual has to make.
Much has been achieved in terms of company structures since then: the Renzo Piano – designed Wind Tunnel was built in 1997, the Marco Visconti's New Mechanical Machining Department in 2001, the new GeS Logistics Area in 2002, the Massimiliano Fuksas' designed Product Development Centre and Marco Visconti's New Paint Shop in 2004, and the Maranello Village in 2006. The new Company Restaurant, also the work of Visconti, and Jean Nouvel's large Production Line building are both nearing completion too.
The company renovation programme involved a total investment in the region of 200 million euro.
Training is one of Ferrari's main focuses and this commitment to education has resulted in agreements with both Italian and international universities, specialist training programmes and work experience stints abroad. In 2006, 2,376 individuals (or 88.5% of our employees) availed of the company training courses which cover both managerial and professional skill-building.
Other Formula Uomo initiatives, however, centre more on personal wellbeing and social involvement. These include: medical check-ups for employees and their children, specialist preventative medicine programmes, participation in company events such as the "Finali Mondiali" and the unveilings of new cars, company stands at the various Grand Prix, sports groups and discounts in various commercial and service outlets.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
naggs 1:12PM (5/03/2007)
in other news, water is wet...
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Aetius 1:19PM (5/03/2007)
There is a 'Great Place to Work Institute'? Is that anything like the Bud Light Institute?
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Troy 1:45PM (5/03/2007)
I was told that the wages were really low there, because it was such an "honor" in Italy to work for Ferrari... I guess if the benefits are good - it makes up for the low wages...
I'll sweep the floors there if they let me take a 599 around the track once a month...
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Roberto 3:18PM (5/03/2007)
Right # 2 .I LMAO when I read that ! I think the best place to work should be at the "Great Place to Work Institute" . F*king hilarious.
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MJT 3000 V6 300hp 4:22PM (5/03/2007)
Unfortunately in Italy MOST of wages are low,especially for factory workers.They are considered exactly as FIAT workers,same contract,same money (more or less 950 euros),but they have special benefits as the article says.Obviously they ask themselves"Is it better to work 8 hours a day in a horrible factory in the grey Turin making a Punto or 8 hours making a work of art in the green country of middle Italy?"The answer is easy and in this situation money is not so important...
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Rick 8:04AM (5/08/2007)
I am starting the Institute of the Best Women to Make Love Too. I plan on traversing the globe in the name of science. Help me help you.
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phyllis 8:51AM (5/08/2007)
I use to live in europe and their government pays all their medical bills and just give them enought money for food and housing. I don't think I would like that type of job.
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ericsmusclecars 8:57AM (5/08/2007)
Im told that www.ericsmusclecars.com was a close second. I mean, cmon who wouldnt want to work where they hand build the nicest cars in the world ?
www.ericsmusclecars.com
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WhiteHorse 10:46AM (5/08/2007)
Hey no worries... it's a "world economy" now. Gas will soon be at least $4 in the "good ole U.S. of A too... or wait is that $3.99.9? Here in this extreme capitalist culture we have some how convinced ourselves or been made to believe that the more money we make or have, the more personal value we have. Clearly one of the reasons Farrari won this award is because their employees are VERY happy and respected, no matter the low European wages.
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laura 11:09AM (5/08/2007)
You cannot compare Europe's way of living to ours. It's a completely different culture; shall I say, theirs is more humane.
Yes, we may have 2 or 3 cars in our driveways but we are too busy working to actually enjoy them or any other great purchases we make.
Europeans don't have to keep up with Jones', because they are all at the same level.
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MIKE 11:21AM (5/08/2007)
WORK IS WORK, AND THE BEST PLACE TO WORK IS BY NOT WORKING. CHERISH THE THOUGHT
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Emanon 11:22AM (5/08/2007)
I have to agree with Laura in #10 response.
Europe is a great place to live. Not sure about all on the same level of income, but they love life, not money .....and it shows.
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LC 11:30AM (5/08/2007)
Thank you Emanon (#12)..you must have experienced the life of an European, as so have I.
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KARIN 11:57AM (5/08/2007)
Laura, (#10), I feel that I have to remind you that Europe is a CONTINENT, not a country, and I can safely say that all Europeans are NOT on the same level. Just because you might have stayed in one country does not mean you have experienced ALL of Europe.
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hdp 12:09PM (5/08/2007)
Please focus on ways that companies can improve the fit between worker satisfaction and organizational performance and productivity.
Thanks
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Beer is Love 12:56PM (5/08/2007)
Western Europeans pay a price for the communal benfits of cradle-to-grave socialism. High taxes, high unemployment and fewer choices and liberties for consumers and businesses. It is nearly impossible to start your own business, freely choose a vocation of your own liking, own real estate or enjoy other privilages we often take for granted in the US. And you ever see the size of their bathrooms?
I have traveled extensively acroos western Europe and experienced many wonderful things. But I'm not sure I would want to live there.
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gmpphotography 2:03PM (5/08/2007)
#17 might have been in Europe, but the comments are totally off base. I am German and thus believe that I have a bit better grasp on that. Nearly impossible to start your own business? I wonder where all the privately owned businesses come from? That comment is total bull. Nearly impossible to freely choose a vacation? What possesses you to make such a statement? the average vacation time in Germany is 6 weeks. The only difficulty anyone ever experiences is to decide where to spend the vacation. Nearly impossible to own real estate? More BS. All my family members do own their own real estate, their houses as well as their businesses. enjoy other privileges? Just name some that you enjoy in the US that are not available in Germany.
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Don Imus 2:04PM (5/08/2007)
wuts with you nappy headed hoes how about you all work for me for minium wage. As an added bennefit you can take me for a spin, if you know what i'm saying. I hope nobody takes offense I am already in a bit of controversy myself.
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laura 3:25PM (5/08/2007)
Karin,thank you for the geography lesson, however, I was just generalizing, I wanted the mass to understand, getting too specific would only lose the focus of my point.
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Joe do Vale 9:24PM (5/08/2007)
REMEMBER!!!! The grass is always greener on top of the SEPTIC TANK. Who in hell wants to work in a continent where they tax you to death in order to benefit (???) the majority? If you think Uncle Sam is taxing you too much go to Europe and do your own research. That may change your thinking. THANK GOD I live in the USA. For those who want to work anywhere in Europe I say GOOD LUCK and God bless you.
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