Ilse Aigner, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, and Emilia Müller, Minister of Employment on the 'Integration durch Ausbildung und Arbeit' initiative.
MUNICH Integrating refugees in the Bavarian labour market is on the right path. Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner: “Since agreeing on 'Integration durch Ausbildung und Arbeit' (integration through education, training, apprenticeships and employment.), we have been able to place 24,000 refugees in internships, apprenticeships and jobs. The goal of integrating 20,000 refugees in 2016 has already been achieved after the first half of the year. This clearly underscores the success and necessity of this initiative. No other federal state has introduced comparable approaches to integrating refugees entitled to stay in Germany into the labour market. This cooperation between the state government and the Bavarian Industry Association is outstanding.” Bavaria's Minister of Labour, Emilia Müller, is pleased, “Our Bavarian labour market is thriving more than ever and can use a growing workforce. This means that refugees have ideal opportunities for integration into the labour market. The fact that we have already achieved our goals for this year encourages and motivates us to continue to work together on integrating refugees in apprenticeships and in the labour market. Continuing also means that we will achieve our goal of integrating 60,000 refugees into the labour market by 2019.”
Aigner continues, “Integration into the labour market is a crucial prerequisite for a successful social integration. Previously, integration into the labour market often meant menial, unskilled jobs. The challenge of providing refugees with additional qualifications for skilled labour is a very lengthy process. This is exactly why it is so important that we focus on apprenticeships from the very start and ensure the right conditions on the labour market.”
Müller adds, “If we provide refugees with the opportunity to begin an apprenticeship and join the workforce, they can establish a long-term perspective for their own lives without being dependent on support from the government. We offer comprehensive measures, such as language courses, assistance with job-orientation and professional qualification to promote this process.“
The 'Integration durch Ausbildung und Arbeit' initiative was signed on October 13, 2015. The Bavarian state government, the vbw – Bavarian Industry Association, the Bayerische Handwerkstag e. V, the Bavarian Chambers of Industry and Commerce and the Bavarian regional office of the German Federal Employment Agency are partners in the initiative. The partners have set themselves ambitious goals. In a first step, 20,000 refugees shall be offered internships, apprenticeships or jobs by the end of 2016. By 2019, 60,000 refugees are to be integrated into the labour market.