On 18 December 2018, Ulrich Stollte in the Stuttgarter Zeitung: “From unemployment to a dream job”
The Eco-Inn hotel recruits its trainees where youth unemployment in the EU is highest. It offers the future hoteliers not only a training place but also accommodation and a language course.
Esslingen – The hotel industry has always complained about how difficult it is to find young recruits. But now that people are talking about full employment in the district of Esslingen, the trade union and other associations are also speaking of a recruitment crisis in the hotel and restaurant industry. What to do? The Eco-Inn hotel in Esslingen has developed a strategy for recruiting apprentices from countries particularly hard hit by crisis and employing them in Germany. The management recently received an award from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for this successful strategy.
Thomas Puchan, managing director of the Eco-Inn hotel in Esslingen: “To find trainees, we made contact with the Zagreb Chamber of Commerce and with a language school in Málaga, Spain. Because these are countries with high youth unemployment, we were able to set up a non-profit company to run the project.
Our requirements are a language course, a minimum age of 18 and a one-week internship. We work with hotels and restaurants in the district and with a Stuttgart caterer. One of our project partners is the Kolpingwerk in Stuttgart, where the trainees take a language course. We have rented a house in Esslingen-Berkheim where the trainees live.
In addition to their apprentice pay, the employees also receive unemployment benefit II or housing benefit. We also support the apprentices when dealing with the authorities and with correspondence. And we look after them in personal matters until the end of their training.”
This commitment has also caught the attention of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Eco-Inn hotel won the IHK Training Innovation Award this year. But what do the apprentices themselves say?
Ana Bucanovic, 21, from Croatia: “I have been in Germany for two years. I come from Đakovo in Slavonia and always wanted to work in hospitality. I had already worked in a large hotel in Rovinj in Istria. But career prospects in Croatia are poor; you don’t get a permanent job, and certainly not in winter. I simply went online and looked for an ecological hotel. The first page that came up was the Eco-Inn in Esslingen. I applied and was accepted straight away. When I have finished my training in Esslingen, I would like to study management in Germany and Croatia. I learned German at primary school, but I admit I didn’t speak it very well. My parents then always had German television on so that I could improve my German.
It was difficult here at first, but I like it, especially that you can work in the different departments of a hotel.”
Julietta Schechtel, 26, from Spain: “I have been in Germany for two years; my family lives in Málaga in Andalusia. I’m a hairdresser by profession, but I had no chance of finding a job in Spain. Even people with good qualifications have no opportunity to get a job in Spain. Through the project I had the chance to get to know a new language and a new culture.
I don’t have children, so it was easier for me to leave Spain than for others. At first it was very hard, especially because of the language. I also missed my family, but now my brother Julian is here; he works at the Shell petrol station in Plochingen.
At the moment I am thinking about staying in Germany with my Croatian boyfriend. Or rather, living in Germany in summer and in Andalusia in winter. I really enjoy working in the hotel industry, but my absolute dream job is to become a taxi driver. For that, of course, I first need money to pay for my driving licence.”
Dieter Proß, IHK Esslingen-Nürtingen, head of vocational training: “We strongly support the Eco-Inn project and therefore awarded it the Training Innovation Award. It may sound a little surprising that the hotel industry belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and not to the Chamber of Crafts, but that is traditionally the case. We know that the hotel industry is a problem child when it comes to young recruits. That is why we organise our own graduation ceremony for trainees, to show them our appreciation. How great the shortage of apprentices is in the region in general is shown by the fact that we had 300 vacancies in the district this year. Usually there are always more applicants than places.”
Helmut Zacher, managing director of the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG) for the Stuttgart region: “In principle, the project is fine. We know that businesses are desperately looking for trainees, and we think it is good that it reduces youth unemployment in other European countries. The restaurant trade traditionally has working hours in the evenings and at weekends. But we also appeal to guests not to complain if the kitchen closes after 10 pm and the bar at midnight. That avoids overtime for staff.”
First published in the Stuttgarter Zeitung on 18 December 2018 by the author Ulrich Stollte