Daimler is launching so called `bridge internships´ for refugees. As of November 9, about 40 participants will be starting fourteen-week `bridge internships´ at the Mercedes-Benz Plant in Stuttgart. The internships are organized with the German Federal Employment Agency and the Stuttgart Job Center. The refugees will learn basic practical skills for work in industrial production and will attend German courses every day. The participants will be selected at the end of October by the German Federal Employment Agency and the Stuttgart Job Center. The aim is to offer `bridge internships´ at many other Mercedes-Benz plants in Germany in the future. Overall, several hundred refugees are to be qualified for jobs in German industry. Participants who have completed the `bridge internship´ successfully will be referred to other companies, temporary employment agencies or professional training programs.
The German Federal Employment Agency will finance the first six weeks of the fourteen-week internship. For the remaining weeks, Daimler will pay compensation for the hours worked in accordance with minimum wage law. Working hours during the practical section will be three and a half hours per work day; another three and a half hours will be spent learning German. Daimler is financing the German courses for the full duration of the `bridge internships´.
In addition to professional integration, Daimler is also involved in the social integration of refugees and supports relief efforts of its employees. The newly implemented nationwide relief campaigns range from financing more German courses for refugees to food donations. In addition, the company has also provided a `helpers’ fleet´ of Mercedes-Benz vehicles to relief organizations.
