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Germany puts refugees to work … for one euro

The one-euro job scheme aims to help newcomers into the job market. But is it effective?

Published: 16 May 2016 12:30 CEST
Germany puts refugees to work ... for one euro
File photo of refugees serving food at emergency accommodation. Photo: Britta Pederson/picture alliance/DPA

With a spoon and spatula in hand, Zaid, a 23-year-old Iraqi refugee, lifts the lid on a large pot filled with goulash and potatoes as he begins his shift.

From 6:30 to 8 pm, he is employed by the city of Berlin to dish out dinner to 152 other Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan and Moldovan refugees in a sports hall, which had been turned into an emergency shelter for the newcomers.

Zaid is one of thousands of refugees who have taken on tasks ranging from repairing bicycles to pruning plants to cleaning sidewalks for pay of just over one euro ($1.1) an hour.

The so-called “one-euro jobs” have been touted as a springboard for the newcomers into Germany's job market, but experts remain unconvinced of their effectiveness.

At the sports gym, Zaid tries to explain to the sceptical faces crowded in front of him what went into the beef stew that he described as “so German”.

For the work – which includes setting the table, cutting bread, serving food and then cleaning up – he is paid 1.05 euros an hour. Restricted to working no more than 20 hours a week, Zaid gets a monthly income of 84 euros at best, a small extra on top of the 143 euros he receives as pocket money while he waits for the official decision on his asylum application.

His monthly intake may be a tiny fraction of an average German wage, but Zaid takes on his job with a big smile.

“It allows me to have contact with the German volunteers who come here to distribute meals, and gives me a chance to speak the language,” said Zaid who fled the city of Hilla, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Baghdad, along with his father and sister six months ago.

“And I don't have to stand around in the centre not knowing what to do,” he said.

'Subsidizing exclusion?'

With authorities often taking weeks, if not months, to process asylum applications, many refugees are bored out of their minds as they are not allowed to take on regular employment during that time. To get around the problem, authorities have decided to make use of the one-euro job solution.

Conceived a decade ago with the aim of nudging the long-term unemployed back to work, it is now being used to help integrate a record influx of refugees, which topped 1.1 million last year.

The city of Berlin currently employs 3,925 refugees who are lodged in 75 centres, and wants to widen the offer to associations that offer public service such as charities helping the homeless or rehabilitative shelters for alcoholics.

In Bavaria, the main gateway for thousands of refugees in southern Germany, 9,000 refugees have taken up such jobs.

The city of Hanover also offers newcomers the possibility of working in bicycle repair, or sorting donated clothes, or accompanying kindergarten children in exchange for German language classes.

Labour Minister Andrea Nahles has promised to create 100,000 such posts for refugees, describing them as a “trampoline” into the job market.

“In the short term, it makes sense because the refugees can't otherwise work,” Ronald Bachmann, economist at the RWI institute told AFP.

“Having them at work also sends a good political signal,” he said, as anti-migrant populism surges in tandem with Germany's record refugee influx.

Nevertheless, Bachmann noted that the one-euro jobs had not proven particularly successful in their original task of getting the long-term unemployed back to work.

“It was very, very rare that they helped to bring them back to a job market as one learns very little from such jobs,” said Bachmann.

The head of the German Federation of Unions, Reiner Hoffmann, also spoke out against placing refugees in such jobs as he believed that Germany needs a far more ambitious programme to integrate the newcomers into the economy.

Holger Schaefer, an expert in the job market at IW institute, similarly had harsh words for the programme, saying “we are in fact subsidizing the exclusion of refugees from the job market”.

In any case, Zaid has no intention of pursuing his budding career in the restaurant business. He has just signed up for a class in a Berlin high school which should help him to resume his studies in IT, which had been abruptly halted in Iraq.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Published: 7 February 2024 10:54 CET
Updated: 10 February 2024 08:20 CET
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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