The labor minister said on Monday that Germany had to temporarily halt a program intended to attract young people from all over Europe to the German job market, due to a much higher than expected amount of applications. The programme's website indicates that no new applications will be considered from 8 April. The page states that updates will be provided on what will happen next year.
"At the moment the demand cannot be satisfied" by the program 'The job of my life', said a spokesman for the minister at the end of the government's regular press conference. Between January 2013 and March 2014 "9.000 people filed a dossier, much more than we expected," he specified. Most of the dossiers come from young Spaniards, followed by Poles and Hungarians.
'The job of my life', or MobiPro-EU according to its official name, offers financial aid to young Europeans to alternatively train, do internships or work in Germany in one of the sectors with a labor shortage such as gastronomy or the care of the elderly.
Presented as a contribution to the fight against unemployment in Southern Europe, the initiative is funded by the Ministry of Labour. The selected young people will receive financial aid to take German courses in their home country, have a job interview and relocate.
The programme, aimed at an age group between 18 and 35, was to last until 2016. Given this obvious success, it was extended until 2018 and its budget was increased to almost 400 million euros. of which 48 million for 2014, already fully used.
