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Munich (dpa) - In Germany, 739,000 jobs have been lost since the beginning of the Corona crisis a year ago, and the number of unemployed has risen to 2.9 million.
But many family businesses are now increasingly looking for staff.
“For them, the shortage of skilled workers is not a summer thunderstorm that will pass quickly.
It is a persistent bad weather situation, ”explains Stefan Heidbreder, Managing Director of the Family Business Foundation.
Because they have two handicaps: Many school and university graduates do not even have family businesses on their radar, even if they are world market leaders in technological niches.
And then the hidden champions are often located somewhere in the country, far from the big city.
“You sometimes have to stretch yourself harder to draw attention to yourself on the job market,” says Heidbreder.
In the years before Corona, many family businesses successfully expanded and developed digital technologies.
To get off to a flying start after the crisis, you have to keep good employees and win new ones in important areas.
There are currently around 3,000 vacancies to be found on the “Careers in the Family Business” portal alone.
“Many family businesses are eagerly waiting to present themselves to selected applicants in a personal interview.
The family business career day, which normally takes place twice a year, is fully booked in the long run, ”says Heidbreder.
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One of the hosts is the company Wika, world market leader in mechanical pressure measuring devices based in Klingenberg am Main.
“We're taking part in the hope of getting one or two good graduates.
That worked in the past, ”says company boss Alexander Wiegand.
The career days are intended to help “ensure that top graduates do not automatically go to BMW or Siemens” and show “that in some cases you have better career opportunities here because you are in direct contact with the boss.
Sometimes things go faster here than in large companies. "
The heating manufacturer Viessmann, a family business in the fourth generation, is based in Allendorf in northern Hesse - in "Hessian Siberia", say mockers.
Business is going well, the company has 300 vacancies.
Online portals on which employees rate their own company are a great help in recruiting, says spokesman Byung-Hun Park.
It is appealing for young professionals to “help shape the energy transition”.
Replacing old heaters contributes a lot to climate protection.
Another aspect of sustainability is also well received: "We think in terms of generations, not quarters."
According to a study by the Technical University of Munich for the Family Business Foundation, most prospective engineers and business administrators would prefer to work in a big city.
“Internationality” is also an often mentioned wish.
On the other hand, they hoped for better career opportunities, a good working atmosphere and a better work-life balance in family businesses.
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Sometimes both go together.
In order to also attract hip IT people, Viessmann has founded a start-up for digital services in Berlin.
With 12,000 employees, the company is active in 70 countries: "Here you get to know people from all over the world," says Byung-Hun Park.
In the job rotation program, employees could work in a different team or in a different country for a year or two: "Turkey, China, USA, Canada are big markets for us."
And some also learn to appreciate the country life in Northern Hesse: "Anyone who comes from Munich can afford a villa here."
Families could eat lunch and dinner in the canteen, and “we are very flexible when it comes to parental leave”.
The construction company Lindner in Arnstorf, Lower Bavaria, helped build the Chancellery, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and the great mosque in Mecca and has annual sales of over one billion euros.
“We are always looking for staff, and we will continue to do so,” says company boss Veronika Lindner: project manager, site manager, technical professions.
Lindner employs 7,500 people worldwide, 3,000 of them in Arnstorf.
“Most of them come from the area.
Many of them had their grandfather with us.
And then we also have commuters from the Bavarian Forest, ”says Lindner.
The company trains over 30 professions.
“Because we are in the country, we were always forced to train our own offspring.
Most of the operations managers and managing directors also come from within their own ranks - and the entire top management level. "
The quality of life in the region is high.
"But what matters is: with us you can take responsibility."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210317-99-855291 / 3