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Strike grounds one in nine Frankfurt flights

At least 148 flights from Frankfurt airport were cancelled on Monday morning due to a strike by tarmac traffic controllers demanding higher wages.

Published: 27 February 2012 07:51 CET

Strike grounds one in nine Frankfurt flights

Photo: DPA

The airport operator Fraport confirmed on Monday morning that around one in nine flights would not take off or land at Germany’s biggest airport. “Apart from that we expect normal flight traffic,” a company spokesman said.

He said the aim was to get at least 85 percent of the planned flights off the ground.

Long-haul flights will largely go ahead as scheduled – those cancelled are mostly those to and from domestic and European destinations, which can be reached by train.

The 200 so-called apron workers, who direct planes on the ground, walked off the job on Sunday evening – resulting in ten immediate flight cancellations. Their union is increasing the pressure on Fraport this week – after a series of shorter strikes since February 16, staff will this week stay away from work until Thursday morning.

Fraport has called the action “completely over the top and unjustifiable” and insisted it made concessions “on many points in the union’s extremely high demands.”

About 80 percent of scheduled flights remained on schedule during strikes last week as temporary employees were trained to take over the duties of the striking workers. However, more than 1,000 flights were prevented from taking off or landing.

DPA/DAPD/The Local/hc

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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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