"Yes, it's true," says Lars Biermann, "we are urgently and immediately looking for new people." And then the man responsible for recruiting at AMEVIDA in Gelsenkirchen leaves us shaking our heads in disbelief: "We want to recruit 400 to 500 new employees every year. But we're finding that increasingly difficult." That sounds like a medium-sized sensation when you consider that the unemployment rate in Gelsenkirchen is 13.6 percent and that there are still more than 250,000 people out of work in the Ruhr region. AMEVIDA will also be represented by an advertising team at "Places", the first festival for virtual reality, next weekend. Biermann: "We want to show the young visitors to Places in particular that they can earn good money with us in the long term."
Hardly any other employer in North Rhine-Westphalia is growing as fast as AMEVIDA.
Headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, the company operates call centers in five cities in the region and in Düsseldorf, primarily for industry giants in the telecommunications sector, but also for providers of healthcare products and frozen foods.
"I assume," says Dr. Matthias Eickhoff, CEO, "that we will increase our headcount from the current 2,260 to over 3,000 in the foreseeable future.
We know that we have to fight against the problematic image of working in call centers and are doing everything we can to ensure that more and more people soon realize that we offer extremely interesting and lucrative jobs."
In addition to a basic salary above the minimum wage and high performance bonuses, AMEVIDA offers unique social benefits. These include capital-forming benefits, discounted company tickets for buses and trains, a company doctor, flu vaccinations and even the cost of a gym. Dr. Eickhoff: "It is important to me that our employees are valued as much as possible. They are our greatest asset." Virtually all part-time models are conceivable - for mothers, fathers, pensioners and people with disabilities as well as for the long-term unemployed and students.
AMEVIDA is not looking for new employees who have completed vocational training. "People who haven't had it so easy so far and have dropped out of training, for example," explains Recruiter Lars Biermann, "can be rough diamonds for us that are polished here." However, all agents - as the employees in a call center are called - must speak German without an accent. They undergo intensive training before being assigned to a call center, "for up to six weeks and with full pay," says Biermann.
AMEVIDA also takes an unusual approach to expanding its team: In the "Employees recruit employees" program, employees who recruit a new colleague can receive a bonus of up to 700 euros, "on the pay slip and net", emphasizes CEO Matthias Eickhoff.
The free applicant hotline can be reached on 0800/5035-182 - or you can contact AMEVIDA employees directly at the "Places" festival in Ückendorf.
