Skilled workers from abroad: an opportunity for German companies

A lack of German language skills is still the biggest hurdle when it comes to recruiting foreign professionals. Suitable language and onboarding programmes offer an effective solution and help with successful integration into the company.

More than one million people have fled from Ukraine to Germany to escape the war. Many have studied or completed training and have exactly the qualifications that German companies are desperately looking for. Nevertheless, half of the Ukrainians employed here are currently working in jobs for which they are formally overqualified. This is the result of a recent study by the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB). According to the survey, the main reason why companies and Ukrainian skilled workers have not yet found each other is a lack of German language skills, followed by difficulties with childcare and the recognition of Ukrainian qualifications.

At least there has been great progress in learning German in recent months. With 8%, only a few refugee Ukrainians have good or very good German skills, but 75% have now attended a German course and can communicate at least at a basic level. This is already a very good basis and offers companies the opportunity to take an even more active role in professional integration with the help of corporate learning programmes. In this way, employers can already lower the inhibition threshold for applicants with little knowledge of German when formulating the job advertisement. Especially for women with children, who make up a large proportion of the refugees, the offer or arrangement of suitable childcare can also be a decisive criterion.

For the targeted language support of new employees, there are then various training solutions to choose from, which are already being used successfully in many companies. A prominent example is Deutsche Post DHL. Together with LinguaTV, a mobile language training for delivery staff with little knowledge of German was introduced there. They can now train their German via their smartphone with interactive exercises and videos on typical scenes from their everyday work. Good onboarding and the use of micro learning were important factors for the success of this training, which has already won several awards. The German courses in the LinguaTV app have been translated into numerous learner languages and are available in Ukrainian as well as various other Eastern European languages.

Another successful example is the Gegenbauer company. The self-learning courses in the LinguaTV app, including a special vocabulary trainer for the cleaning sector, were accompanied by a mobile coaching programme. Depending on the area of responsibility, other methods are also used. For example, trainees with insufficient German language skills are taught in small groups in a virtual classroom, i.e. via video conference. In the area of order management, on the other hand, a special telephone training is used to prepare the new employees specifically for their future work.

Conclusion

Many refugees from Ukraine want to find work in Germany. In addition to professional competence, they can shine with motivation and a willingness to learn. Most of them also now have at least a basic knowledge of the German language. For companies, this is a good opportunity to now focus even more on recruiting Ukrainian skilled workers. The successful examples of Deutsche Post DHL and Gegenbauer make it clear: suitable onboarding and language support programmes are an effective method of compensating for a lack of German language skills and preparing the new employees precisely for their respective jobs in the company.

By the way: Our language training for Deutsche Post DHL employees has already received several awards. One of the reasons is the successful onboarding concept! For more information on this project, we will be happy to provide you with the complete project description as a free whitepaper.

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