Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine more than two years ago, numerous people seeking protection have fled to Germany. Over 2,500 of them have come to the Salzland district. Many of them can imagine staying longer - perhaps even forever. On the other hand, there are a considerable number of companies in the district that urgently need labour and skilled workers.
With the "Job Turbo" programme, the German government aims to place jobseekers with a refugee background with employers more quickly after they have successfully completed an integration course. Refugees are to be placed and supported in a targeted manner, taking into account their individual potential and needs, by means of further vocational language courses, which can then also be completed in parallel with everyday working life, and at the same time close support from the job centre's integration advisors.
On 18 April, the time had finally come for 23 refugees at the Kreisvolkshochschule Salzlandkreis in Bernburg. They received the results of their final integration course exam. Since the start of the course in July 2023, the men and women of different nationalities and ages have been working towards this day together with course instructor Julia Fröhlich.
35-year-old Volodymyr Myronchak is one of them. "I'm grateful that I can do this course," explains the Ukrainian. "Although there are already 3 language course providers for Bernburg alone, some of which run parallel courses, not all refugees get a place. There are quite long waiting lists," explains Stefanie Siewert, integration advisor at the Salzlandkreis job centre.
Volodymyr Myronchak came to Germany with his family in September 2022. He lives here with his wife and their now two children. His daughter, who has already learnt German very well at kindergarten, is due to start school in the summer. His youngest will go to nursery from next week so that his wife can then also take part in an integration course. The young man worked in the car industry in his home country, most recently as a manager in the sale of car parts. He hopes to be able to work in his old job again soon, but is also aware that he will need to improve his language skills even further.
The "Job Turbo" programme creates the right conditions for this: The programme is aimed at companies that are willing to employ refugees with basic German language skills and also provide them with further qualifications in financially supported measures alongside their work.
Interested employers can contact the Employer Service of the Salzlandkreis Job Centre using the following contact details:
Telephone: 03471 684-3531
Email: dalbrecht@jc.kreis-slk.de
Background information:
As part of the nationwide "Job Turbo Campaign Week" from 22 to 26 April 2024, the partners of the programme will draw attention to their work through various local events and would like to discuss the opportunities offered by the initiative with companies, the media and the professional public.