Human resources management: Ms. Sternitzky, Westwing has gone through a tough transformation in the last three years. What had happened?
Miriam Sternitzky: That was an exciting but also very challenging time. I took over leadership of People & Culture in March 2020, just as the pandemic began. We experienced an incredible boom during this time because many people were at home and redecorated their apartments. But in 2022 we realized that growth was not sustainable. People wanted to go out and travel again – and they no longer needed a new couch. However, the cost base that we had built up was too high and it became clear that we had to change.
What exactly drove up the costs?
It was a combination of personnel costs and the enormous complexity in our structure. As Westwing grew, we set up our own office and local structure in many countries, and in some cases even our own warehouses. It was clear that we needed to reduce this complexity to remain successful in the long term.
