Metas has been advertising three jobs on the platform for a good week now, all with a remote option, so working away from the company's Bonn location is possible. This means that candidates in Ukraine could send in their application even if they are not allowed to leave the country - as is currently the case with many Ukrainian men. Krake does not see any language barriers: "Our company language is English, the same as in the entire developer world."

Since it was founded on 1 March, the free online platform jobaidukraine.com says there have been around 14,000 job offers, 96 of them in Bonn (as of 1 April). The initiative was the idea of entrepreneurs Marcus Diekmann and Christian Weis. When the Russian invasion began, Diekmann, who lives in Coesfeld, was already in contact with his former aupair from Ukraine and he asked her if she wanted to come to Germany. "But she asked me, what am I supposed to do there without any prospects?" Diekmann is managing director of the Peek and Cloppenburg subsidiary International Brands Company and sits on the advisory board for the bicycle manufacturer Rose Bikes.

It soon became clear to him that Ukrainians arriving in Germany need a job as soon as possible. "They left in a hurry, without much money. The fear of not having a job and thus no income is immense." Together with a team of four, Diekmann got the website up and running in a few days. He already had experience dealing with emergency situations: almost exactly two years ago he founded the initiative "Händler helfen Händlern" (Traders Helping Traders), which helped small and medium-sized businesses to network during the Coronavirus crisis. It is from there that he recruited many of the companies that are now posting their offers on the job platform. "Most of them come from sectors where there’s a huge shortage of skilled workers," says Diekmann. They have already conducted around 1500 job interviews.

Jaeger GmbH has not yet interviewed any candidates. But the Bonn-based heating and sanitation company still hopes to use the platform to "recruit new skilled workers," says Cindy Jaeger, who is responsible for training. So far there has only been one application, and the candidate had a completely different background that did not fit the job description. So he wasn’t suitable for the advertised position as a plant mechanic.

Things are less complicated for persons applying for a job in assembly or on construction sites. Here, a lack of German language skills is not a problem, says Jaeger: "If you show a person certain task a few times, he or she will be able to do them. In addition, many people know English, which also helps. She had the same experience with Syrian trainees: "You can always communicate somehow." As soon as there is a suitable applicant, the company also wants to help with finding accommodation. It is also possible to take private tuition during the training.

In future, Diekmann wants the job platform to also arrange language courses or help with registration with the authorities. Currently, Ukrainians with biometric passports are allowed to enter Germany without a visa and stay for at least 90 days. They receive a blanket residence permit for temporary protection. Normally, they would not be allowed to work during this period, but when the immigration office issues the residence permit, this includes permission to work, which is an exception to the usual regulation. This can, however, take time, which is why Diekmann wants to work more closely with employment agencies and organisations supporting refugees.

Another plan is that applicants will be able to create a profile on the platform, where they can, for example, introduce themselves with a video. Diekmann envisions a job platform similar to the dating app Tinder and less like the professional network LinkedIn, because: "That already exists. The idea is that companies and candidates will find each other even faster. At the same time, refugees can use the platform to present themselves without much effort. After all, packing their employment documents was probably not the most important thing for many of them when they fled.

To make the offers more flexible, there will also be remote jobs, so that applicants in Ukraine or other countries can apply. "In the long term, we want to become a European integration platform for people from all over the world who have to flee their home countries and are looking for work," says Diekmann. Currently, the project initiators are working on founding a non-profit for their project. The team of helpers has grown; around 60 volunteer developers are currently working for the platform. Companies like Deutsche Bank have also assigned IT staff to the project.

From a legal point of view, it is still not clear what will happen after the current exceptional situation ends. For instance, will companies still be allowed to explicitly target refugees in their job ads, or will this be seen as discrimination against local job seekers? Descriptions that include both groups could make sense, says Diekmann. The most important thing now is to make the platform better known. The Bonn entrepreneur Frank Thelen is promoting it, but many companies learn about the offer through word-of-mouth or media reports.

This is also the case with Lehmanns Gastronomie GmbH in Bonn-Dransdorf, which is currently searching for a cook on the platform. Some Ukrainians work in the catering company's team. However, basic knowledge of German is needed for the job, says managing director Stefan Lehmann. "Our everyday work has shown that all employees need to speak and understand German in order to be integrated into the processes." But tasks in the canteen kitchen can be learned quickly.

So far, there has been no response on the portal. "But it’s really difficult on the entire catering market right now," says Lehmann. His goal: to find committed employees - "and to be able to quickly offer the refugees from Ukraine a bit of normality".

Original article: Nina Bärschneider

Translation: Jean Lennox