Germany’s Regional Unemployment Solutions

Seminar:“Effectice Regional Unemployment Solutions”

inJekabpils / Valmiera

24 th / 25 th March 2014

Joachim Ossmann, Chairman of the board, Employment Agency Schwandorf

Seite 2

Seite 3

Establishment of companies supportedby the Employment Agency

● Laying the foundations

● Tasks during the decision process concerning the location

● Assistance during the establishment process

Agenda

Seite 4

Parties involved in location decision and establishment processes

Employer

● Provides specifications for the location evaluation

● Decides on location/establishment of new companies

Consultancy firm

● Coordinates the process on the part of the investor

● Supports the investor in location evaluation

● Represents the investor in the case of anonymous investors

Business development agency

● Local: Coordinates the process on the part of the location

● Regional: Decides on subsidies

Employment Agency

● Gives assistance in personnel recruitment process (analysis of customer profiles; training, if necessary)

● Decides on subsidies

City/administrative district

● Makes specific offers concerning properties, further assistance, if necessary

Parties additionally involved depending on the case:

real estate brokers, lawyers, educational institutions,...

Investor Location

Seite 5

Networking of parties involved in location decisions/establishment of new companies as an essential requirement

Observations

● In the case of location requests, it is essential that all parties involved are integrated at an early stage and that local interaction between them is smooth

● Furthermore, the local cooperation level is observable by the investor and influences his location decision

Consequence

Strong networking of the Employment Agency with the parties involved in location decisions is required

● Business development agency of the city/administrative district

● Business development agency of the state

● Cities/administrative districts

Seite 6

Required formats for the preparation of the establishment of new companies

Objective

Information on services of the Employment Agency

Format

Presentations

Flyer

Addressees Essential contents

● Investors

● Local/regional business development agency

● Further parties involved in establishment processes

● Labour market/capability of applicants

● Range of services of the Employment Agency

● Assistance for employers in personnel recruitment

● Range of services of the Employment Agency

● Assistance for employers in personnel recruitment

Seite 7

Establishment of companies supportedby the Employment Agency

● Laying the foundations

● Tasks during the decision process concerning the location

● Assistance during the establishment process

Agenda

Seite 8

Location decisions – Typical “hard” criteria for the location evaluation by investorsGeneral location (city, administrative district) Definite location (property)

● Future employees

o Availability of required qualifications

o Educational institutions/universities in the surrounding area

o Income level

● Local branch situation of the investor

● International transport connection (flight connections)

● Standard of living/quality of life at the location

o Educational and cultural offer (theatres, child care facilities,...)

o Cost of living (rents,...)

o Environmental quality

...

● Availability of property (city/administrative district/other owners)

● Labour cost subsidies

● Qualification costs, training costs

● Further assistance**

* Either directly or by providing transparency

** E.g. provisioning of rooms for temporary use or similar

● Land area/building space

● Construction density

● Investment costs, current expenses

● Location

o Central/peripheral

o Connection to public transport

● Terms/restrictions of use

 

● ...Financial support

Weighted differently by

various investors

Opportunity to take influence for the Employment Agency*

Seite 9

Location decisions – Typical “soft” criteria for the selection of location by investors

Professionalism

Willingness

to cooperate

Entrepreneurship

● Prompt and high-quality responding to requests

● Communication at eye level (Management of the Employment Agency!)

● Reliability of undertakings, dates, etc.

● Solution-focused approach: joint search for solutions when problems occur, flexibility

● Smooth collaboration between business development agency, city, administrative district, Agency and further parties involved on-site

● Treatment of establishment of new companies with high priority, communicating this attitude

● Active addressing of important issues – no purely reactive behaviour

All points of high importance in the

cooperation between the Employment Agency and

business development agency/investor as well as

for the entire process of establishing new

companies!

Subjects What is meant ?

Seite 10

Dealing with initial requests: Typical subjects for the Employment Agency and sources of information (1/2)

Subjects Generally available sourcesAspects

Working hours

● Standard wages

● Real wages

● Standard working hours

● Usual working hours

● Overtime

● Working hours schemes

● Shift work

● Work at night, on weekends, Sundays and public holidays

● Unions; collective agreements, wage databases

● Employers’ associations

● State Statistical Offices

● Unions; collective agreements

● Employers’ associations

● State Statistical Offices

● Unions; wage scale regulations

● (Know-how of the Agencies)

● State Statistical Offices

Important: Initial requests often require

a very rapid reaction

Wage level

Seite 11

Dealing with initial requests: Typical subjects for the Employment Agency and sources of information (2/2)

Fixed-term

contracts*

Business figures of

the specific location

Co-determination

at plant level

Subjects Generally available sourcesAspects

● Regional importance

● Number/turnover of companies

● Gross Domestic Product per resident

● Dynamics

● ...

● Role/presence of unions*

● Unions

● State Statistical Offices

● (Know-how of the Agencies)

● Unions

Important: Initial requests often require

a very rapid reaction

*Especially of interest for foreign investors

Seite 12

Specific assistance in establishment processes given by the Employment Agency

“Standard portfolio”

of the Employment Agency

Further options of assistance

Assistance

● Expert function in the labour market

● Recruiting/pre-selection of applicants, occupations, qualification; setting up a pool of applicants

● Precise preparation of applicants, it is checked whether training costs can be borne*

● Assistance during job familiarisation (traineeships)

● It is checked whether labour cost subsidies can be granted*

● Provision of bureaus in the Employment Agency for the conduction of information events, job interviews in initial phase

● Promotion of the employer via notice board, hand-outs, etc.

Specific offer to be designed in

accordance with the investor’s

requirements

* based on the individual case

Seite 13

Agenda

Establishment of companies supportedby the Employment Agency

● Laying the foundations

● Tasks during the decision process concerning the location

● Assistance during the establishment process

Seite 14

Essential activities after location decision – Start of operative assistance of the establishment processC

ommunication

Start of

operational work

Follow-up, keeping track of success

Location decision

● Information of employees of the Employment Agency about establishment and planned proceedings

● Information of surrounding Agencies

● Determination of contact persons for further collaboration between Employment Agency and investor

● Generally: press briefing investor on location decision

● Fixed process how to proceed, formats

● Start of operational work with investor

● Further operative assistance of the establishment

● Status follow-up of success of activities (number of placements,...)

● Direct communication between investor and Management when problems occur