Meet Gesine from Schaffhausen

What is your current role here?

I started working for UBS in December 2014. At first I was a temporary employee, but I immediately liked the finance environment. I got the chance to go to India for five weeks to support an operational initiative. Succeeding there enabled me to get a permanent position in tax reporting and claims.

My current role is sub-head of the production team. I’m responsible for offshore communications and the production of tax reports for Germany. This means that we reach out to client advisors for information regarding transactions and calculate the referring taxable amount. I relocated to the Schaffhausen office in the second half of 2017.

What do you think is the best part of your job?

The best part of my job is working together with the teams in Hyderabad and Pune. I get to know the Indian business culture through my work. We collaborate without having to be in the same office, or even the same time zones. We are constantly trying to improve communication so as to produce timely tax reports at the highest quality.   

What is your favorite memory since you joined?

One of my favorite memories is working in a traditional Indian sari. When I was in India in November 2015, my colleagues were celebrating the Festival of Lights (Diwali). It is about the victory of good over evil and the triumph of light over darkness. Everybody dresses up, even at work, to celebrate the day. So my Indian colleagues brought me a red sari and I wore traditional makeup. I worked the whole day in the sari dress and they were all very happy that I participated. We took a lot  of pictures and had a great time.

You moved offices from Zürich to Schaffhausen. What were your thoughts and expectations before the move?

At first I thought it was a bit further away in comparison to what I was used to, but I decided to go. I went to Schaffhausen twice before the move to get to know the building. I quickly got the impression that the office is something different and very modern.

We moved first onto the 6^th floor for a few months and got to know our new working environment . It has the dual bigger screens, walls where you can write your ideas or your recommendations, e-bikes that are provided for free, etc. These are the kind of features which make working in Schaffhausen special.

I also got the opportunity to get involved in a group called the culture carriers. We’re a community of motivated colleagues who work in Schaffhausen. We’re building a culture that is great from the moment you enter the office. We have different initiatives like networking, lunch club, volunteering and others. Through these initiatives, we reach out to our colleagues and create new “Wow!” moments in their days.

What do you expect from the Business Solutions Center in Schaffhausen in the future?

I expect that people will connect even more with each other to exchange ideas. They’ll use the infrastructure of Schaffhausen to build an atmosphere where you can perform well and have fun at the same time!