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Airline pilots stage strike in Düsseldorf

Airline passengers across Germany suffered flight delays and cancellations on Tuesday when pilots’ union Cockpit called limitedstrikes for LTU and dba.

Published: 18 November 2008 15:09 CET

Airline pilots stage strike in Düsseldorf

Photo: DPA

The strike centered at the Düsseldorf airport between 5:30 am and 8 am downed four flights and delayed a total of 27 flights, parent company Air Berlin reported, adding that most passengers were placed on Lufthansa flights to finish their journeys.

Cockpit voted on Monday to call a strike to back up their demands of a renegotiation of the social compensation plan in both companies. A VC spokesperson announced that an unnamed number of pilots of both companies participated in the action.

Air Berlin said the strike has been “undramatic” so far and that it was ready to talk, but the pilots’ union claims dba abandoned negotiations and the LTU management refuses to enter the proceedings altogether.

Dba’s some 300 employees were recently informed of the airline’s shut down and asked to work only on call, Cockpit said. Parent company Air Berlin will only consider ongoing employment with drastic changes to state pension, employment protection and retirement benefits.

Meanwhile, charter airline LTU faces closures of the sites in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Berlin, Vienna and Frankfurt.

With the closing of the sites approaching, an Air Berlin spokesperson said it wouldn’t make sense to employ people on sites where no planes could be stationed and announced a general lack of understanding for the actions.

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions.

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds.

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local.

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with.

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