Economics
Germany Courts Workers With Sausages and Cheap Housing
Unemployment is at a record low and more than a million jobs are open, creating perks like foreign travel and local ham platters for new workers.
Obeid Allah Norzi, an 18-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, lives in an apartment owned by auto parts maker Burger Group.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Jakob Kratsch isn’t a Harvard Business School grad, an elite engineer, or a software whiz. He’s a 20-year-old manufacturing apprentice. And yet, a century-old factory near what was once the border between East and West Germany found him so desirable that the company included the possibility of a free trip to New York in his recruitment package.
As a top performer in his first year, Kratsch got to spend three days visiting tourist sites such as the Empire State Building and Times Square, and met with management at Harry’s Inc., a New York shaving-kit maker that four years ago bought the razor-blade plant where he works.