And preparations were being made for the in-season already. Still some two months off from the final delivery date, he had already ordered his lowly paid workers in Taiwan, Indonesia and other countries to begin mass production of the many goods that were to be delivered. The marketing department had also set to work, and already, stores and television channels were showcasing the trademark symbols that heralded the coming of this phase. Stroking his beard, he thought back to the old days, when he was barely known outside Germany and his products were created in a little workshop in his current headquarters, where he worked year long alongside a few child labourers. Strangely, no one had thought badly of him for not paying them a cent back then, and yet there was now continual outrage over low wages for adult workers. What a strange world!
But he had worked hard, and made connections with just the right people. Now, he had established himself all over the world, in the richest and most lucrative markets. His was now a mighty multi-national corporation. So great was his financial clout that governments gave holidays to people just so that they could enjoy his products, religious organisations advertised for him for free, and global sentiment required that people all waste their hard-earned money buying presents for others. Oh well. It was not his problem that people were so stupid.
A telephone call arrived. He knew exactly what it would be about, and who it was from. A lot of his old workers were no longer required for their original purposes, and he had given them management positions around the world. This call was from one of them regarding recruitments. In the past, he had needed to do all the work himself. But now that he was established, there was no need to deliver to each house any more. Most of his customers were quite willing to do the actual delivery themselves, though for marketing purposes, he still had to have workers who looked similar to himself lurking outside the stores, greeting customers and taking the occasional photo with children.
He picked up the telephone, and listened attentively to the voice on the other side. "Sir, Rudolph here. I've got some twenty thousand applications here. Most of them are good, but there are a few who don't quite look up to scratch. I'll send you the borderline ones and you can decide if you want them. Is that alright, Mr Claus?"
"Of course, Rudolph," replied Mr Claus. "Ho ho ho, this should be another good year."