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Will refugees fill in the gap in the German transport sector? The controversial program took off and caused a storm

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The Germans hope that refugees from the Middle East will fill staff gaps in the transport industry. The program for asylum seekers, that will get the qualifications and get a job, has just begun. Trade unions of German drivers are strongly opposed to this initiative.

There is a lack of truck drivers all over Europe. Germany is not an exception here. There is a deficit of around 45 thousand employees. The carriers and trade unions take various measures to deal with this problem, which is even more painful in the face of the positive situation on the market.

Driving in Your New Future” is a program launched by the association of carriers from Schleswig-Holstein, together with the German Red Cross and the SVG Nord driving school. The initiative is directed to asylum seekers from the Middle East.

Before joining the program, the Red Cross was to check the level of German language skills and the candidates’ status. In turn, the SVG Nord school was supposed to assess their skills and lead them through a three-year education period.

The program enjoys „considerable popularity”

According to the weekly Wochenblick, 25 forwarding agents from the region joined the initiative, and 90 refugees came forward in just a few days.

Another 50 have signed up for the waiting list – admits in an interview for „Kieler Nachrichten” Ilka Hübner, program initiator and head of the integration department of the Red Cross in Kiel. According to her, the recruitment was successful.

The program is controversial

We say a firm „no” – Wolfgang Westermann, the head of the Federal Association of Professional Drivers Union speaks for the weekly „Wochenblick” – Not everyone can be seated in a 40-ton truck and drive it” – he added.

German Internet users do not spare criticism in the comments. In addition to safety concerns, there are allegations of spending taxpayers’ money.

Oh, there’s money for that? Do you know how much it costs to train a professional driver? With all formalities, about 8,000 euro and it’s one person! The government will pay for everything, and entrepreneurs will not add a cent to recruit and educate employees. And politicians will tell us again that everything is great. Why no one took care of training young drivers in the industry until now? Instead, they were constantly moaning about drivers from Eastern Europe. The same is true in other industries” – comments jupp9.

Another Internet user – Ferdel – notes:

With as many as hundreds of thousands, 90 plus 50 candidates, pathetic … „

What do you think about the initiative of the Germans? Will this idea work?

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