SANTA CATARINA, Brazil — A 100-year-old man in Brazil is officially the person who has worked the longest at a single company, earning the Guinness World Record.
Guinness World Records announced the achievement, which was actually reached earlier this year. Walter Orthmann began working at Industrias Renaux S.A. (now known as RenauxView) in Brazil on January 17, 1938, which means that he has worked there for more than 84 years, Guinness World Records reported.
Orthmann began work at the company as a shipping assistant, but he was promoted to a position in sales before subsequently becoming a sales manager, NPR reported.
“I was given the opportunity to work as a salesperson,” Orthmann told Guinness World Records. “I traveled to São Paulo, and in less than one week, I filled the production with orders equivalent of three month of work.”
"Back in 1938, kids were expected to work to help support the family. As the oldest son of five, my mother took me to find a job at the age of 14."
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 1, 2022
Over the course of his career, Orthmann has been paid in nine currencies, NPR reported.
The 100-year-old told Guinness World Records that he believes in living in the moment, saying: “I don’t do too much planning, nor care much about tomorrow. All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future. Here and now is what counts. So, let’s go to work!”
Guinness World Records said Orthmann broke his own record, previously set in 2019, of 81 years and 85 days of work.
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