This question is about my mother.
She currently works as a waitress in a 4 star restaurant in frankfurt for the last 4 years.
She is 55 years young and has no problem in her current job nor does she have any issues with her employers (in the sense that she gets the job done competing successfully against her much younger co-workers and there is no foreseeable risk for her losing that job)
She has a skillset and is a cunning person worked hard in various jobs in the past (mostly outside Germany)
Unfortunately most of it is not "verifiable" so to say and she has no degree other than a technical high school degree, an English degree (she doesn't have a german degree but she can read speak and write german quite well) and some mini certificates in marketing and computers (but nothing that I think would be considered as credible in germany) so basically she has 0 CV material so to say.
The reason I am asking about what options are there out for a person like my mother is that despite her being good at her job I am afraid that the stress and hardship takes a toll on her health and quality of life (lifting heavy weights like for example dozens of packs of bottles from and to shelfs , standing for hours and walking kilometers each day with dishes and whatnot, cleaning and preparing tables etc)
She won't seek any help on the subject on her own she is conservative on that matter (she found a job and she will stick to it) but I am really worried about her. Unfortunately I don't live in germany to have a first hand experience of the reality there and my german isn't good enough to understand the complicated details on german government sites relative to what I seek.
I wonder if there are any "2nd change" or "rehabilitation" programs where seniors or unemployed people in general could acquire skills and find a job on the market.
As well as opportunities a person like my mother could have (other than being a waitress) in germany and where to look for them (like websites and whatnot).
Last but not least I would like to know what is the basic wage in germany because from what I understood by reading some websites (with my poor german) it's about 1450 euro netto yet my mother seems to get less than that (about 1100) there is a side income in the form of tips that get divided equally among the employees but still her monthly wage doesn't seem much to me considering that she works full time+ in a reputable restaurant in the city of frankfurt so I find that thing a bit strange.
I thank you in advance for reading this any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Employment options for seniors in Germany
Finding employment is harder above 50 than for younger people. That's a fact.
And without proper certification, it is harder still.
For your mother, much depends on whether her kind of visa allows changing employer and whether she can convince a new employer that she is the right person for the job. You cannot force her, neither can you find a job for her.
She is a german citizen there is no visa. I mentioned that she is a cunning person.
What I am looking to find is ideas for jobs to search (= jobs that don't need years of experience as a background ) and if there are any programs for unemployed people or seniors to train them giving them some skills to help them find jobs... in the country I live in such programs exist I don't know about germany though.
Such programs in Germany are administered (and funded) by the "Arbeitsamt" (governmental employment agency) - so she can contact them.
Of course any other (privately funded) class that gives her a certificate relevant to her job might also be valuable.
For jobs that don't need education and experience (e.g. stacking supermarket shelves or harvest help), she'd have to compete with hundreds of often desperate new arrivals from Eastern Europe or Syria - so even if she finds one, she will be very badly paid. The minimum wage of EUR8,50/hour is not universally enforced.
well thanks but this is the issue she won't bother to look at it because she gets exhausted already and wants to feel secure so she won't take any off job days to search for other jobs... I was hoping to find an insider here to point me at specific links or give me specific program name which he would consider useful for our situation for me to look more into that .
I would have done it myself but as I said my german is weak and government pages confuse me a lot (cause I know mostly "street german" formalities make everything harder for me to understand xD )
As I said before:
beppi wrote:For your mother, much depends on [...] whether she can convince a new employer that she is the right person for the job. You cannot force her, neither can you find a job for her.
If she does not want to change, it will not happen!
Also: No pain, no gain - or no risk, no fun.
If your mother avoids risks and uncertainty, she will just remain where she is now. Maybe she is o.k. with it?
In any case, a program as you wish does not exist. Help is only given to those who want it.
Sounds like mom has some advantages over what a lot of other expats have: a German passport, gets along in the language and has job experience. When looking for a job one usually contacts the Arbeitsamt as Beppi mentioned. I'm not sure how much effort they will go to in finding her a job however when she already has one. I think they can give an advice about what training exists for a new career if she has one narrowed down. But if she is not registered as unemployed then I'm not sure what the rules are on getting job offers through them. Obviously, they want to focus on people with no job. And in most fields people over 50 have such a hard time that they have special programs for them. If she has special interest or skills in an area that might provide a better job, then it is maybe good to look into.
But one cannot force one to change jobs and while waitressing is not the easiest job it is also not the worse. One is on their feet a lot but don't usually have to do overly hard labor. If one can no longer walk well it is a problem but if one is used to it then why worry. Having a job that is a bit physical is probably healthier than one where they only sit all day. Exercise is good as long as it is not over done and it is not uncommon for people to waitress until retirement age. And if she is valued by her employers then they might take her age in consideration when and where they schedule her.
That said, if she does think of changing careers then probably better sooner than later. Learning new skills and getting into a new job market will only get harder as one gets older.
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