The German airports and in particular the Frankfurt Airport are sinking into chaos.

Everywhere there is a shortage of workers for security, maintenance and administration, and there is also the Lufthansa strike.

New workers have to be found quickly, very quickly.

That's why the job portal Indeed invited to the mass application day.

Throughout Germany, the portal advertised an “Airport Interview Day” this week, attracting with salaries of around 14 to 20 euros an hour and starting bonuses of a thousand euros.

Employees for airports in the areas of security and security support, baggage transport and "packing" as well as for office work would be wanted, it said.

Kevin Hanschke

volunteer.

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A journey to Frankfurt, Munich or Leipzig is unnecessary.

To register for one of the interview appointments, all you have to do is enter your name, telephone number and e-mail address and click on the white and blue portal.

It is structured like a digital job exchange, with a waiting number and appointment slips.

You will not be asked for a CV, letter of motivation or certificates.

On the day of the interview, the applicant sits in front of his computer - and ends up in a digital waiting area until the HR managers call the participant.

"It's nice to see yourself doing it," says one HR manager into his webcam, smiling.

The expectations of the job are briefly exchanged - willingness to work shifts at the airport and immediate availability are necessary - and then a brief introduction to the professional field is given.

Then the salaries are briefly explained and the working hours are emphasized again.

There are no questions for the applicants.

You should still send your CV, you can hear when you say goodbye, after that you will either get a response or not.

The applicant is dismissed from the interview with a smile and a hesitantly pronounced “Hope to see you soon”.

Most positions are temporary until the end of the year

The next virtual interview is a few minutes away, at another company.

The conversation begins again with a short introduction to the occupational field and the question of whether you are willing to work shifts.

Qualifications or work motivation are not asked this time either.

"Many jobs are auxiliary activities," says the HR manager.

Finally, he asks you to upload your CV.

We would get to know each other again in three weeks.

When asked how many positions are actually to be filled in companies, the information remains vague.

"In the office area, about twenty positions with different qualification profiles," is all they say.

It's about bridging short-term bottlenecks, adds a HR manager at a security company.

Most of the positions are temporary until the end of the year.

If the work performance is good, an extension can be considered.

But that's not what it's about now, it's just about short-term needs, he says.

These are quite confusing courses for the short five-minute conversations, given the severe shortage of skilled workers.

If you currently search for the keyword “airport” on Indeed, you will get 10,000 suggested jobs.

Job offers in aviation have increased by 60 percent year-on-year.

According to the job portal, 7,200 jobs are open at those airports alone that take part in the “Airport Interview Day”.

The largest companies that are looking are DIS AG, Adecco, Flughafen München GmbH and Securitas, but also temporary employment agencies such as Adler.

"Everyone is desperately looking for workers right now," said an Indeed spokesman.

But there doesn't seem to be a lack of interested parties either: there were more than two thousand registrations for the virtual job interviews, including from Italy, Turkey and Spain.

Hiring in September or October at the earliest

"For Indeed, this is the first digital applicant day," says an Indeed spokesman.

It is not completely new territory, because the portal has often organized large mass job events, for example for the logistics industry.

The “Interview Day” for the airports came about because many companies contacted the intermediary.

As a result of the pandemic, many airport employees have left the industry.

That's why we've been in contact with the aviation industry and temporary employment agencies for a long time.

They would have been happy about the promise that the portal would take care of new applicants - and that each of the companies involved would be promised an advertising budget of 50,000 euros.

Although this is a pilot project, the feedback from the participating companies has been positive.

"Normal application and hiring processes are completely outdated," says Indeed.

Finding a job is a highly emotional matter, because you want to see faces - and therefore need the interview software of the portal.

However, it is questionable whether such mass application days can reduce the current chaos at the airports.

The HR managers give the months of September or October as possible starting dates for the job entrants.

"Then when the fall travel season begins." But the multi-week recruitment process is accompanied by the security check, which is mandatory for many positions at the airport.

According to a HR manager, this can take several weeks: the responsible authorities are currently overburdened and have too few staff.