http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/bavarian-companies-set-sights-on-workers-from-spain-to-fill-jobs-a-900034.html
It's a cool, cloudy morning in Munich as Antonio nimbly climbs up the narrow ladders of the scaffolding outside Wilhelmstrasse 17. The six-story building is under renovation -- one of several in the neighborhood -- and the metal work that lines each floor has to be replaced and molded to the building.
When Antonio reaches the top, his boss greets him and promptly demonstrates how to use a hammer and pliers to fasten a small sheet of copper to the gutter. His explanation of the task is a crude exchange of hand motions and incomplete sentences -- Antonio understands almost no German. But he picks up the work quickly. It's his fourth day on the job.
Antonio José García Roca, 27, is one of 11 Spanish immigrants participating in a pilot program organized by the Chamber of Crafts for Munich and Upper Bavaria. The program aims to address the shortage of medium-skilled specialized workers among small- and medium-sized German companies, considered to be the engine that keeps the German economy humming. Spaniards between the ages of 18 and 30 possessed of job training and work experience are paired with employers in and around Munich that have job openings. Now in its ninth month, the program hopes to place at least 21 Spanish workers in Germany by the end of its pilot phase at the end of the year.
"Given the high youth unemployment in Spain at the moment, there was this idea that there are a lot of people in Spain who could do the work, (and) we have a lot of companies that need to fill their vacancies," said Elisabeth Kirchbichler, one of the coordinators of the program. "So let's bring them together."
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