The Brose Group is launching an employee program to integrate refugees at its three Franconian locations Coburg, Bamberg and Würzburg. Around 60 refugees and recognized asylum seekers will receive assistance from 60 Brose employees initially, who will work on a purely voluntary basis to prepare them for living and working in Germany. The company is supporting this campaign in part by funding training for the sponsors along with German courses and psychosocial counseling for those affected. Brose would also like to give refugees an opportunity to see how operations work in the respective region.
“Through our employees, we want to help refugees help themselves and begin paving the way for successful integration right now. The goal is for refugees in our region to be able to live an independent, self-reliant and satisfying life,” says Michael Daniel, Vice President Human Resources Brose Group.
Cooperation with the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft
The employee program will begin in January 2016, initially for a one-year period. Before the program starts, Brose in Coburg, Bamberg and Würzburg will be looking for and training 60 volunteers to become sponsors. 20 refugees and recognized asylum seekers per location, 60 in total, will receive assistance. The cooperation partner of the Brose Group is the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (Educational Institute of the Bavarian Employers’ Associations, “bbw”), which has the necessary expertise and will contribute to the employee program with training.
The bbw and the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency, “BA”) will select the refugees for the program. The BA has in-depth knowledge about refugee rights concerning residency and works closely with the local authorities. One of the requirements is basic knowledge of German (A1 level) and obvious willingness to integrate vocationally and socially in Germany. Adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are the target group.
Sponsors will assist the affected people in their day-to-day efforts to integrate socially and vocationally and help them discover their individual perspectives. Brose is supporting this campaign by funding German courses and psychosocial counseling. The sponsors will also receive psychological support as needed and will take part in regular meetings of sponsors to share their experiences.
The bbw will offer refugees insight into everyday work life in Germany with typical professional and practical first tasks at companies in Coburg, Bamberg and Würzburg. Brose will also offer “practical stays”.
Brose supports language learning app for foreign children
In addition, the company is sponsoring the German-wide launch of a digital language learning application for refugee children and migrants. “Hallo App Deutsch” aims to teach foreign children and young adults the basics of the German language via smartphone. The free app teaches basic vocabulary based on the 1,000 most used everyday words. The application will be available for download throughout Germany at the beginning of November 2015. A version for adults is planned for a later date. Details about the German-wide launch of “Hallo App Deutsch” will be announced at a press talk on 6 November 2015 in Munich.
