Munich, 4 April 2023 – Every day, the media reports on job cuts at renowned companies, in Germany and beyond. The challenging economic situation across industries is forcing many companies to downsize their workforce. In contrast, Europe’s leading smart energy company, gridX, is focusing on employee growth. With its IoT platform, XENON, gridX is driving the digital energy transition and taking an active role in a booming, future-oriented area of the energy industry.
Alongside promising industry prospects, the company’s job creation is supported by ambitious growth targets. In the last year, gridX, founded in 2016, transitioned from a start-up into a fast-growing scale-up. The company from Aachen and Munich increased the number of positions by around 100 percent throughout the course of 2022, thereby doubling the team size from just under 70 to 140 employees in just twelve months. Against the backdrop of continued business growth, which defies economic trends, gridX is also aiming to double the number of employees in 2023 and is constantly looking for reinforcements to the team.
From the world to Munich and Aachen
Expanding a team when there is a shortage of skilled workers is no easy task. gridX owes its success in part to opening its recruiting doors to international talent. Now, employees from almost 30 countries call gridX their professional home. A large number of team members have emigrated from their home countries to Germany specifically for a job at gridX. Brian Diaz started in early 2023 as gridX’s 137th employee as a Customer Success Manager. He moved from his native Mexico to the Bavarian capital to study for a master's degree at the Technical University of Munich, and after graduation decided to stay in Germany. "From day one at gridX, I knew I made the best choice to continue my professional career in a very dynamic and diverse environment, among many colleagues with international backgrounds and experiences abroad," says Diaz. Not only does gridX support new employees in the lead-up to starting work, for example in applying for visas, but international professionals also receive help in learning the German language from the moment they sign their contract. With these and other measures, gridX wants to make it attractive for international talent to take the step into the German labor market.
Working together for a sustainable and decentralized energy industry
At gridX, as the numbers show, Diaz isn’t the only one with an international background – and that's intentional, says Fabienne Römer, Head of People & Culture at gridX. Having only been there herself since the beginning of 2022 when gridX had just 63 employees, she and Diaz are representative of gridX's strong employee growth in the past year. Römer explains that in recruiting, gridX follows the philosophy of not simply filling positions, but finding the right person for every role. In doing so, she says it is always especially important to seek out the people who want to help gridX move forward toward its goal of a sustainable and decarbonized energy market. "To ensure that we find the perfect candidates, we search for talent globally," explains Römer. She also says it is irrelevant in this context whether a person can only start two months later due to a long notice period, or a move from abroad to Germany pushes back the start date. "A perfect fit is a perfect fit. If we've found the right person for a position, we're happy to wait for that person and do everything we can to make their onboarding as smooth as possible," says Römer.
Scaling year 2023 – for both business and employees
No slowdown in employee growth is planned at gridX in 2023, as big goals have also been set for company development. "We want to scale our business by a factor of ten this year," says Tim Steinmetz, Managing Director and Chief Growth Officer at gridX. "To make sure we succeed, we are expanding the team with experts in a variety of roles, who will help us achieve our ambitious goals," Steinmetz continues. At present, the company is again aiming to double its workforce within a year. In doing so, all four areas – Operations, Growth, Product and Development – are expected to grow significantly. "gridX is looking forward to reinforcements across all qualification levels and areas, from students to interns, recent graduates to experienced professionals, and experts looking for a new challenge in a booming industry," says Römer.
Looking for a new challenge or more information? Read more on our careers page.
gridX is Europe's leading smart energy company based in Aachen and Munich. With its IoT platform XENON, gridX enables manufacturer-independent monitoring and management of distributed energy resources. XENON allows partners to develop and scale energy management solutions faster than ever before. By partnering with gridX, Fastned is able to install more charging points at sites without the need for costly grid extensions, and the Viessmann Group is able to offer its customers intelligent and integrated home energy management systems.
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