Maëlle Hamma: When did you know that design would be your profession?

: I used to draw a lot when I was a teenager. My parents didn’t want me to be an artist. I worked in the nuclear industry and then I wanted to do what I liked, working for myself with a workshop to make the furniture I designed. Then I joined a large group. But my job as head of department took me away from my core business: design. I left and set up for good in 2014 in Thionville.

What led you to set up here in Luxembourg?

When I discovered the country, I realised that it was far from the image it was given: that of a tax haven. It’s a country where people work hard, in all areas, particularly in industry, a sector I’m passionate about. You have to challenge yourself in life, so I went for it.

Is your day-to-day life what you expected?

It’s exciting! I love going out on site with people who are passionate about what they do. Workinov works on both the soft side, i.e., the workstation and its ergonomics, and the hard side, which concerns work organisation and change.

What challenges are you facing?

The digital natives, the generation arriving on the labour market. Technology has made them lose certain skills, but develop new ones. They won’t be working like they did 50 years ago. So the challenge is to provide them with a framework and working tools that are in tune with the way they use things and the way they see things. One solution is gamification, with tools that use certain video game mechanisms, for example.

How do you see your company in five years?

I’d like to recruit to recreate a team and dialogue. For the moment, it’s still complicated financially, but I’m optimistic. I see my development more in Luxembourg than in France.

A message for decision-makers?

I would say that Luxembourg seems to me to be the country best placed to lead a digitalisation centred on the human and not the other way around.

Workinov

Based in Bertrange and Thionville, Philippe Guilloteau works on a variety of projects. In France, he has designed most of the “mushroom bins” found at motorway service areas. He is currently working on the high-tech control room project for the ArcelorMittal Belval site. Guilloteau began by analysing the industrial company’s constraints to design a work tool that integrates ergonomics and technology.

This article was written in  for the  of Paperjam magazine, published on 26 February. The content is produced exclusively for the magazine. It is published on the site to contribute to the full Paperjam archive. .

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