Employee Offences in the Media City of Cologne

Since the 1980s and an economic crisis in the previously dominant sectors of mechanical engineering and the chemical industry, the media sector has become one of Cologne’s largest showcases and, with around 55,000 jobs, one of the city’s top employers. At times, the number of available positions in Cologne’s media sector even exceeds the number of eligible job seekers – hardly surprising given Cologne’s approximate 30 percent share of total German television production. In addition to countless production companies, television (for example RTL) and radio stations producing and broadcasting audience magnets such as “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” or “Beat the Star,” numerous publishing houses (for example Kiepenheuer & Witsch, DuMont, Bastei Lübbe) and online magazines are based in the city on the Rhine. More than a third of all German TV and cinema productions are created in and around Cologne, and the city is also prominent in literature: Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll, internationally renowned investigative journalist Günter Wallraff, and bestselling author Frank Schätzing hail from or worked in Cologne.

Poor Work Ethic Leading to Offences – Employee Observation by Economic Detectives as a Countermeasure

There are many reasons that can lead to employee offences. One common cause is frustration due to limited future prospects, disagreements with supervisors or colleagues, monotonous work, difficult clients or unfulfilled remuneration expectations. According to a Gallup Institute survey, only 17 percent of all employees feel highly motivated in their job. Cologne ranks among the best cities in Germany for living conditions. Many companies prefer to invest in the Cologne location, thereby securing jobs in Germany, rather than relocating to low-wage countries to save on personnel costs.

As employers do not always receive gratitude from their staff, the detectives of Kurtz Investigations Cologne frequently carry out observations of employees suspected of feigning illness, engaging in unauthorised secondary employment and numerous other suspicions: +49 221 4558 0377.

Automotive, Chemical, IT, Environment, Health – Cologne is Diverse

Although Cologne is regarded as a media capital, this is only one facet of the city’s economy. The largest private employer is the American car manufacturer Ford, with over 17,000 employees, but the chemical company Lanxess AG, engine manufacturer Deutz AG, numerous IT companies and the SmartCity Cologne initiative by the city and RheinEnergie AG also contribute positively. Although Bayer AG is famously based in Leverkusen, it should not be overlooked, as the company is of enormous importance to the Cologne-Bonn-Düsseldorf metropolitan region. Incidentally, over 80 percent of all employed people in Cologne work in the service sector.