On Wednesday, shortly before noon, a few Patek Philippe employees left the gray and imposing building to take advantage of the break to have a bite to eat or play sports. How are they experiencing the recent events which affected two of their colleagues, targets of booby-trapped devices in Saint-Jean in August, then in Petite-Boissière on Monday? What is the internal climate like? “We talk about it a lot,” says a forty-year-old on a bike. It’s revolting what’s happening. We feel disgust, injustice mixed with a feeling of helplessness.” Even if he does not personally know the two men concerned, because he does not work directly with them and the company employs more than 1,600 people, “this affects us all, out of solidarity between employees”.
However, he assures that the staff of the watch factory do not feel in danger. “There is no psychosis. We are not at the stage of fears. We are in a company that will take matters into its own hands,” he adds. A trust shared by two women who leave the compound together. “The investigation is ongoing. As long as we don’t know the bottom of the story, there’s no point in worrying,” comments one.
“It’s very secure. They plan to further strengthen the measures,” indicates the second, referring to the management note published Tuesday on the company intranet. In this document cited by the “Tribune de Genève”, the management board says it is “in shock” and indicates that employee safety is an “absolute priority”. He asks staff to exercise “caution and discretion regarding [leurs] activities at Patek Philippe.
Apart from this internal communication, management is not very verbose. “We haven’t been told anything very concrete,” comments a thirty-year-old, who takes out a salad in his hand. Everything we know, we learn in the press. There are noises from the corridors. We talk about it, obviously. I’m not more worried than that.” While another, on the contrary, whispers: “We are not very reassured… We have to live with it!”
If some welcome the work of the media which allows them to know more, others are less laudatory: “I think the press is doing too much,” says an annoyed employee. It increases the pressure when there are no leads.” Still, the profession of the two targeted men is not a coincidence. Responsible for the investigation, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office itself speaks of “a potential link” between the two cases.
