As a teenager, Ahmad Abo Dai came to Germany from Syria to escape the war in his homeland. Three years later he began his training as a real estate agent at the Berliner Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Construction. After successful completion, he was initially taken on in customer service.
Today, the 26-year-old works as a sales coordinator in the rental division. “In the beginning, the language was a problem, especially all the technical terms,” says Abo Dai in retrospect. But the young Syrian crammed intensely. In addition to the language course, Gesobau made it possible for him to take private lessons. Because the working language in the company is German.
Gesobau employee Ahmad Abo Dai at work
Source: Katrin Starke
Gesobau has already trained several refugees from crisis regions to become real estate specialists. It is becoming increasingly difficult to fill all training positions. The number of applications is clearly declining. The company emphasizes that the training and employment of refugees offers “a real opportunity”. So far we have always had good experiences with the people.
This is also the case with the 32-year-old Syrian Khalil Akraa, who has been working as inventory data manager in the finance and accounting department of the housing association for four years. When he fled the war in his home country at the end of 2014, he had to give up his law studies in Aleppo.
The Syrian Khalil Akraa works as inventory data manager at Gesobau
Source: Katrin Starke
One of the reasons why he trained as a real estate agent was because he was able to contribute his previous legal knowledge. In January of this year, Khalil Akraa was naturalized – a milestone for him.
Professional success
The Federal Government also regards the new Skilled Immigration Act passed by the Bundestag in June as a milestone, which is intended to make it easier for people to immigrate to Germany. Gesobau believes that the simplifications contained in the amendment to the law should definitely be effective. But the decisive factor for professional success or failure is often language skills – and the law doesn’t fix anything there.
“The German language must be learned before training and work begins,” says Knut Deutscher, general manager of the Cottbus Chamber of Crafts. This is particularly true for risk-prone professions. The new law will take a close look at his chamber. But the fact is: “Without the influx of foreign skilled workers, the future of numerous companies is uncertain.” Although Deutscher has already identified a trend in southern Brandenburg:
“For foreigners interested in crafts, self-employment is preferred over employment.” Romanian, Syrian, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese citizens have founded a total of 546 companies in the Cottbus chamber district since 2019. However, immigration certainly also helps to cover the high demand for skilled workers in the existing craft businesses, says Jörg Dittrich, President of the Central Association of German Craftsconvinced.
With a view to the immigration law, however, he believes that “there are still too many difficulties and potholes on the way to Germany for immigrants to take it on the scale hoped for”. Visa procedures take too long, the immigration authorities are overburdened “and there is still no culture of welcoming in a way that makes Germany appear more attractive to immigrants than other possible destination countries such as Canada or the USA.” The best law is useless if it is not enforced.
Industrial electrical assembly
Peter Schütte, head of the Elcotech Group from Lünen, sees it that way too. The owner-managed company with branches in Germany, Austria and Croatia is active throughout Europe in the field of industrial electrical assembly. Because the shortage of skilled workers is getting worse and worse, he has been looking for suitable employees abroad for years, says Schütte.
In the hope that the immigration of skilled workers from the Western Balkan countries would be a little easier due to the so-called Western Balkans regulation, he focused on Bosnia in particular and meanwhile employs ten Bosnians, but also skilled workers from other non-EU countries. On average, it took five months for people to enter the country.
“Have the papers sent, submit them to the Chamber of Crafts. It checks what is missing for the recognition of the equivalence of a professional qualification. We draw up a training plan, the man gets his deficit notice,” says Schütte, describing the usual procedure up to now. Only then could the eight-month follow-up training in Germany begin. “After 13 months, an equivalent electronics technician for industrial engineering was available to me.”
It all took far too long. “It’s important that people who want to work here in Germany can come and learn right away,” says Schütte. A lack of knowledge of German is not a problem for him, it is more important to set up specialist training programs in English. There is currently a “huge shortcoming”. He needs people with a good knowledge of English technical terms. He finds it unreasonable “what companies should do with the authorities”.
Central contact
There is no central contact for companies. Among other things, if there are problems getting an appointment to extend a visa – an experience that not only Schütte made. Achim Dercks, Deputy General Manager of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, says that long waiting times for visa appointments and a lack of information and contact persons in the authorities often prove to be obstacles.
“Further support for companies and skilled workers should therefore accompany the implementation of the Skilled Immigration Act,” Dercks demands. A number of things in the amendment go in the right direction, “for example, the possibility of coming to Germany to work without having the professional qualifications of equal value”.
Ultimately, however, not only good laws are decisive, but above all smooth, fast and transparent administrative procedures in practice. In addition, there is a need for welcome centers “that stand by as guides in the multitude of German authorities and thus enable an offer from a single source”.
Maria Niehoff would have liked more help in overcoming bureaucratic hurdles. As one of the partners of the Bottrop-based IT service provider Celano, the computer scientist is responsible for the company’s human resources. The biggest hurdles did not arise when hiring her foreign employees, she says, but during employment.
dual study
The bureaucracy put more obstacles in her way with the Moroccan, who was trained at the company and is now employed there, than with the young Syrian, who completed a dual degree at Celano. For example, the Moroccan was initially not allowed to move from the refugee home in Essen to his own apartment in Bottrop. “And when we went on a company outing to Holland, he wasn’t allowed to go with us because he might not have been able to return to Germany,” says Maria Niehoff.
She asked the Caritas migration policy interest group what she could do there, the mayor and of course the immigration authorities. “There was no way.” In addition, the IT specialist had to appear regularly at the immigration authorities and was absent from the company as a result. “That made us unsure,” says the entrepreneur.
For a while, the management even considered whether to continue hiring specialists from non-European countries. “But on the one hand we want to give people a chance and on the other hand we have always found motivated employees who deliver very good performance,” says Niehoff.
Immigration helps to fill vacancies well, is also the experience of master electrical engineer Sven Ohligschläger. “It doesn’t make any difference to me whether someone is German or only has a Duldung as an asylum seeker,” says the head of a medium-sized electrical company in Würselen and also head of the guild.
Different cultures
“It is important to me that the person fits well into the team and can tolerate other opinions,” emphasizes Ohligschläger, who currently employs an electronics technician from Zimbabwe, a Syrian and a young man from Afghanistan, among others. The energy turnaround brings Ohligschläger a good order situation. “We need the man,” he made clear to the immigration office at the time when it came to extending the residence permit for his employee Innocent Mhlanga from Zimbabwe.
The meeting of different cultures in the company works well. “When my young master threw a party after passing the exam, there was only food when the sun had set – because of Ramadan.” That is a requirement of mutual respect.
In the countries from which his foreign employees come, family is very important, says Ohligschläger. “As a family business, we are a bit of a substitute for that.” Ohligschläger also treats his people like family members.
He paid for Innocent Mhlanga’s driver’s license, for the Afghan Safiullah Seerat the membership fee for the gym and the Syrian teacher Hasan Mohsen received an extra salary when he brought his wife from Syria.
The Afghan Safiullah Seerat works at Elektro Ohligschläger in Würselen
Source: Katrin Starke
The social component is important to him. “It does require more support.” But he is happy to put up with it. As far as bureaucracy is concerned, he hopes the new immigration law will ease things up.
New Strategies
There is a growing shortage of well-trained specialists across Germany in many sectors. In the fourth quarter of 2022, around 1.98 million jobs were unfilled.
The federal government’s skilled labor strategy aims to leverage domestic potential. The aim is to increase the number of women and older people in the labor force and strengthen training and further education. In addition, however, Germany also needs qualified immigration so that companies can secure and expand their skilled labor base.
With the Law on the further development of skilled worker immigration existing barriers should be removed. One of the central points of the amendment to the law, which the federal government presented in March and the Bundestag decided in June: Anyone with two years of professional experience and a degree in their home country can come to Germany as a skilled worker. The degree no longer has to be recognized in Germany beforehand. A new opportunity card with a points system is being introduced – for people who do not yet have a specific job offer but have potential for the job market. (Source: Bundesregierung.de)
Companies advertise at career and training fairs for skilled workers, but are also increasingly using social media. In addition, they work with institutions such as Caritas or Diakonie and organizations such as BifiZ – Education for intelligent future gGmbH as well as with the local employment offices in Germany and abroad. They also use networks. Gesobau, for example, is a member of the “Companies integrate refugees” network in order to specifically address people from crisis regions.