It is lunch break at the Siemens Erlangen,
Germany, campus. At a table in her company’s
cafeteria, Andrea Scheerbaum
is swiping on her phone, showing colleagues
pictures of Damascus she received
over the weekend. Since last year, just like
many of her colleagues, Andrea has volunteered
to be a ‘buddy’ to one of the about
150 refugees who participated in Siemens’ professional integration programmes by
September 2016.
The migrant crisis that hit Europe in
summer 2015 sparked unprecedented social
engagement from civil society and businesses
alike. Employees from a diverse set
of German companies started to contribute
in their communities. At Siemens, for example,
the engagement for refugees has facets ranging from self-organized help groups to
financial and in-kind corporate donations
to offering housing locations to a structural
integration program.
Siemens was one of the first companies
to offer a robust program to foster the integration
of refugees in the German labour
market. In October 2014 it developed a concept
of an orientation internship for refugees still in the asylum application process.
During the waiting process for an official
approval from the German state, refugees
have very limited options to participate in
the labor market – an issue that requires a
tailored solution from industry.
The programme, with internship
assignments lasting for two months, starts
with an integration workshop and engages
the department that offers the position and
an external ‘buddy’. Buddies are usually
recruited on a voluntary basis from a different
department. They are appointed to be
there for the interns as additional contacts
to help provide cultural and corporate orientation.
Siemens started its pilot internship
programme in Erlangen in spring 2015 with
10 internship positions. It has been extended
to 14 other locations while the company
targets to provide up to 100 internships
to qualified refugees in 2016. More than
70 internships have already been staffed.
Siemens also offers customized six month
intensive courses to prepare talented
young refugees to participate in formal
vocational training. These courses comprise
intensive language classes, pre-vocational
training in the areas of mechanics and electronics,
and cultural and sport activities,
which refugees are offered to take part in
with other local trainees to facilitate better
integration. Among the current 64 participants,
Siemens enrolled 15 into its apprenticeship
program that started in September
2016. The remaining candidates will receive
support using the company’s local network
to find apprenticeship opportunities in peer
companies. In Germany, vocational training
has a very high status and a successfully
completed apprenticeship is a solid foundation
to long-term employment there – a fact
of which refugees are often not aware.
The practical exposure to the German
labour market provides an initial orientation
in that market, a platform to sharpen professional
competencies and an environment
to improve confidence. It may also open up
further opportunities to new arrivals – from
apprenticeships to fixed-term employments
– in the job market. However, the many inclusion efforts also demand commitments
from the refugees – they are expected to
learn the language and adapt to the local
customs in relatively short order.
Siemens employees gain invaluable
experiences with colleagues from very
different backgrounds, thus fostering the
open mindset necessary to promote diversity.
Given the implicit prejudice towards
migrants in some parts of society, this
is a very important measure to counter
such sentiments. For example, Siemens’s
Medium Voltage and Systems factory in
Leipzig, which offers technical internships
for refuges, demonstrates how the project
is a win-win for both sides. The refugees
learn about the German labor market and
can test their abilities. But the project also
gives Siemens colleagues the chance to get
to know the people who are seeking help
from the company. Of course, it is not possible
to offer all of them a permanent job.
But it is a start and every business can do its
part within the limits of its own resources.
In September 2015, the United Nations
agreed on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, which sets out 17 goals to
be achieved in a joint effort of the global
community by 2030. Through its integration
programme, Siemens is trying to act
as an active contributor to international development through providing quality education,
offering decent working conditions
and reducing inequality. This effort, however,
cannot be accomplished by the sole
effort of a single enterprise. It requires commitments
from government institutions,
non-profit organizations, working networks
and peer companies. It is only possible these
challenges if we are able to jointly mobilize
resources from multiple dimensions.
By walking hand in hand we can find
an integrated solution and help make this a
better world to live in: especially for those
who have had their homes and existence
uprooted by conflict or other disasters.