Who hasn't heard the lament from the VDI and companies about the shortage of skilled workers? And the discussion about whether it even exists. At the height of the last economic crisis, many a company looked to Spain, Greece or other southern European countries with high unemployment figures. "Surely we can bring workers to Germany," they thought. Together with the Federal Employment Agency, campaigns were then launched and trips were made to the south to bring skilled workers, especially engineers, to Germany. But there was no lasting success. After all, there is hardly any unemployment among mechanical and electrical engineers there either.
A large German engineering company commissioned the HR interim manager to develop a concept for identifying and recruiting mechanical and electrical engineers in Europe. He was to identify suitable recruitment channels in the individual countries and develop an action plan. At the suggestion of the interim manager, the focus was on students. The reasons for this were: Students tend to be more mobile than engineers who have been in the profession for a number of years and are socially rooted with their families. During their studies, students and companies have the time and opportunity to get to know each other through internships or vacation jobs in Germany. During this time, the student can gain an insight into life in Germany. And he can acquire basic knowledge of the German language during this time.
The client was prepared to take a strategic perspective; not quick recruitment, but personnel marketing with a time horizon of 3 to 4 years until the employment contract. With the planning tool of the recruitment funnel, which the interim manager proposed, the strategic personnel requirements are transparent and the recruitment activities are controlled. The interim manager worked with the client to identify the leading universities for the two courses. He then established contact with the deans, rectors and student organizations. This laid the foundation for cooperation between the German HR department and the universities abroad. Students can usually learn German at their universities. Some universities even offer German-language engineering courses. This gave the company access to new labor markets to cover its need for skilled workers.
