Recruiting Skilled Workers via the Recognition Partnership – A Practical Example

But how did Ms Lê from the Vietnamese region of Hà Nam come to the small town in the center of Germany? In Vietnam, she trained other chefs in a school herself. She found her way to Germany through her German teacher, who also worked as an interpreter. Through the interpreter job, she had connections to the southwest region of Thuringia, where the inn is located. That is how Ms Lê learnt about the “ViTa” project.

In Thuringia, personal recommendations and success stories of other companies play a central role for the project. That is also the case for the inn “Zur guten Quelle”: Owner Markus Harrer got to know about the opportunity through a friend who is an businessman. With the help of the “ViTa” project, the businessman had recruited support from Vietnam for his supermarket branch before. After having received advice over the telephone from Mr Zhao Chen, who is an integration coordinator in the project at the Chamber of Crafts South Thuringia, chef Thi Thía Lê was presented to Mr Harrer. She seemed to be a good fit due to her two-year vocational training in “professional cooking techniques”. After a remote job interview, a decision was made quickly: it’s a match! Ms Lê was invited to support “Zur guten Quelle” – just in time for the Christmas season, if feasible.

Recognition procedure and the fast-track procedure for skilled workers

After detailed consultation, Mr Chen from the Chamber of Crafts South Thuringia and Mr Harrer made their decision: they want to take the path of the relatively new recognition partnership and take advantage of the fast-track procedure for skilled workers in this framework. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) verified whether the company was fit to train apprentices, which must be confirmed for the recognition partnership. Then, Mr Chen contacted the local foreigners authority to initiate the fast-track procedure for skilled workers ^[1] and the employer paid the fee of €411.

Now, some bureaucratic steps were required:

• The skilled worker Ms Lê and the employer Mr Harrer concluded a work contract, including a supplementary agreement on the joint implementation of the recognition partnership.
• The Statement on a Foreign Vocational Qualification (DAB) was obtained at the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) to prove that the professional qualification of Ms Lê as a chef is recognized by the Vietnamese state.
• The Federal Employment Agency gave their consent to the employment. To be able to do this, the Agency assessed Ms Lê’s salary in comparison to the standard regional renumeration for a chef. A characteristic of the recognition partnership is the immediate employment as a skilled worker – even if the professional recognition is still to ab acquired.
• The foreigners authority gave the preliminary approval for the visa. Ms Lê presented that document to the German embassy in Hanoi, booked an appointment and received her visa in the end, initially for one year.

Arriving in Germany

Right before Christmas, the time had come: Ms Lê arrived in Thuringia and was warmly welcomed in the family business. She lives together with three other Vietnamese project participants in a shared flat in Schweina (a part of the neighbouring village Bad Liebenstein). The owner of the inn had organised some furniture for her, pickes her up for work every day by car and occasionally goes grocery shopping with her. For the long term, the two of them are considering whether Ms Lê should buy a motor scooter – they are very popular in Vietnam and in rural Schweina, busses rarely come by. To do that, she would need to have her Vietnamese driving licence converted.

Especially during the initial phase in Germany, a lot of bureaucratic steps had to be taken and Ms Lê had to got to know her surroundings. During this phase, it is important that employers are there for their new skilled workers, which may be time-consuming. But the better the initial phase works out, the faster sustainable integration into the company will take place.

Mr Chen from the from the Chamber of Crafts South Thuringia accompanies Ms Lê and the company closely and supports any pending bureaucratic steps. The example shows that, with commitment and the right partners, recruiting skilled workers from abroad can also be done successfully by small family-owned businesses. 

“Make it in Germany” would like to thank Ms Thi Thía Lê, Mr Markus Harrer and Mr Zhao Chen for sharing their experiences!

References

^{[1] The employer gave his power of attorney to the integration coordinator. In some federal states, the central foreigners authorities are the competent bodies, however, there is no central body located in Thuringia.}