Life is not easy for people who are new to Germany.

Of the refugees from the wave since 2015, only one in two now has a job.

Others come to Germany with a visa and a job, as urgently needed workers - but Germany lacks that too, and at the same time not everyone who is interested knows how to get to Germany.

Patrick Bernau

Responsible editor for economics and "Money & More" of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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That's where a management consultant started.

Johann Harnoss, 39, works full-time at Boston Consulting.

But after seeing how a friend of his had founded an association for refugee aid and saw how difficult integration can often be, he had another idea: “How can you prepare people in their home countries for Germany in such a way that you get a job offer and can enter with it? "

Harnoss founded an association called the “Imagine Foundation”, collected volunteer colleagues and started: What can you do in Germany?

How do you write the resume?

Are my language skills good enough?

114 people to Germany - on a voluntary basis

Around 70 helpers go through all such questions with possible immigrants - mostly with people from the Near and Middle East who are interested in IT professions in Germany.

The association has already brought 114 workers and around 45 family members to Germany in this way, some of whom now work for Berlin start-ups and some in traditional DAX companies.

Very rarely does a company pay for a mediation, sometimes there are donations.

But most of the work is done on a voluntary basis, most of the helpers came to Germany themselves.

"They have just had this experience and are looking for a connection themselves," says Harnoss.

The association has just raised enough money to hire two of its full-time volunteers.

Harnoss had the time to found the company because he has two children.

So three years ago he was able to take a year of parental leave (“twelve months, that was almost revolutionary as a man”).

He rented a room in a start-up center and worked from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., after all, he was at home more often than on projects in Saudi Arabia.

“We had no income during that time, but my wife supported that from day one.

Starting something has been a dream of mine for a long time. ”Harnoss was not entitled to parental allowance.

And what will happen after the pandemic?

Will IT jobs move to the immigrants' home countries without them coming to Germany?

Harnoss doesn't believe that.

“Not everything can be done remotely.

And people also want to come to Germany to gain life experience. "