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Hesse acts to recruit Spanish carers

The central German state of Hesse is making active attempts to recruit unemployed workers from Spain look after the state's elderly people.

Published: 5 November 2012 15:50 CET

Hesse acts to recruit Spanish carers

Photo: DPA

The state’s social affairs minister, Stefan Grüttner said on Saturday that in the first phase of the programme, around 100 positions in Marburg, Offenbach and Wiesbaden would be filled with workers from the Madrid region.

The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported on Monday that Grüttner and the state’s economy minister Florian Rentsch would be travelling to Spain next week to talk with people there about getting Spanish workers to come to Germany.

The state’s social welfare ministry also wants to make qualifications achieved abroad more easily recognized in Hesse.

Members of state’s Green Party said the initiative would not be enough to solve the problem of insufficient carers for the elderly and that the career needed to be made more attractive to local people.

They also said it was crucial for a programme to be established to help the recruited carers communicate with the people they are looking after.

New unemployment figures from Spain on Monday show a record 4.8 million unemployed. The country’s federal employment office in Madrid reported that in October, an additional 130,000 people registered as being unemployed, bringing the October numbers up 10.8 percent on that month the year before.

As the number of senior citizens in Germany grows, so does the need for carers. From 1999 to 2009 the number of those employed in nursing homes nationwide grew by 41 percent, according to the federal Health Ministry. Experts expect those numbers to continue rising in the coming decades.

DPA/The Local/mbw

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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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