Germany is continuing to struggle with a shortage of skilled workers, as elderly staff retire, and there are not enough young candidates to fill their roles. To try to alleviate the problem the country is increasingly turning to workers from India.

For Handirk von Ungern-Sternberg, it started with an email that dropped into his inbox in February 2021. It had come from India.

The gist of the message was: "We have lots of young, motivated people looking for vocational training and we're wondering if you're interested."

Von Ungern-Sternberg was working for the Freiburg Chamber of Skilled Crafts in southwest Germany, a trade body that represents skilled workers, from bricklayers and carpenters, to butchers and bakers, and the companies that employ them.

The email arrived at an opportune moment.

"We had a lot of desperate employers, who couldn't find anyone to work for them," says Von Ungern-Sternberg. "So we decided to give it a chance."

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5848802&forum_id=2Vannesa#49762608)