The shortage of skilled workers prompts German companies to seek help from the army to seek labor
About 20,000 soldiers end their service in the German army annually.
This number represents an important source of labor that deserves to be used, and this is what local and international companies have become increasingly aware of.
There are now more than 4,500 cooperation operations between the army and companies, including Amazon and the American car company Tesla, which opened an electric car production factory on the outskirts of Berlin last year, in addition to the German food store chain.
The German police, the German Deutsche Bahn company, which operates railway lines, and the German Postal Service, which employs former recruits, also joined this trend.
Soldiers often leave the armed forces after they have benefited from the comprehensive education opportunities they provide, and companies appreciate that many of them, especially officers and non-commissioned officers, held leadership positions at the beginning of their early careers, where they were often entrusted with the responsibilities of supervising personnel and equipment worth millions, according to a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn.
The spokeswoman adds that in 2023 alone, Deutsche Bahn aspired to employ more than 25,000 new employees, and to achieve this goal, the company had to exhaust the potential of the entire labor market.
This wasn’t an easy task, because the situation in the German labor market, from the perspective of employers, had become very limited.
A recent report issued by the Employment Research Institute in Germany stated that the so-called labor market tension, which describes the ratio of vacant jobs versus job seekers, has reached its highest level ever, which has often prompted companies to expand their search for skilled workers, using… Several different methods.
A spokeswoman said that in recent years, 94% of soldiers who ended their service in the army were able to find a job in the civilian labor market within the first year of ending their service.
