By Hildburg Bruns
Looking for new employees? Money isn’t everything! Berlin is also providing apartments for the new start. A thousand more company apartments are planned at eleven locations by 2028.
“Charité” is written above the entrance to Storkower Strasse 114a (Friedrichshain). But there is no infirmary here, although it is teeming with nurses and nursing staff. The university hospital has rented 76 company apartments for 82 employees from the developer Berlinovo. They were recruited from abroad – including Mexico, Tunisia, Turkey, Albania and the Philippines – and were given a rental contract along with their employment.
“We only recruit in countries where we are not draining the market,” says CFO Astrid Lurati (57), “that is, countries that have enough workers themselves.”
On-site visit to the Charité company apartments by Raed Saleh (l.) and Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU, m.). The young Turk Orhan Altinors (26) says that he previously took a German course in Istanbul and now works in a children’s ward in Wedding. He pays 600 euros for his 23 square meters. Photo: Ufuk Ucta
Furnished 23-square-meter company apartment
The rent is not subsidized by the employer, but there are also no surcharges on the construction costs. A 23-square-meter apartment with a bed, closet, and kitchen costs 590 euros per month. But you save yourself the hassle of searching.
“We want our employees to arrive without any worries and to concentrate on their work and the language,” says board member Lurati. After two years at the latest, however, the new Berliners should ideally have found something else.
“I was able to concentrate fully on my exam,” says Wassem Hadded (26) from Tunisia, who works in pulmonology at the Charité Mitte. His room is filled with green plants, and he also loves meeting up with his neighbors on the terrace.
Wassim Hadded (26) from Tunisia lives on 28 square meters, pays 699 euros Photo: Ufuk Ucta
“This form of immigration has been successful,” said SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh (47) during his on-site visit. “We need these people.”
Finance Senator Stefan Evers (44, CDU) stresses that the tax offices are already negotiating with Berlinovo about candidate apartments. In addition to fair pay and good working conditions, such offers are essential in the competition for the best minds and skilled workers.
The Berlin-based company Berlinovo has had 5,000 company apartments in its portfolio for some time, including for police recruits – and now the number is being increased further.
Berlinovo is building 1,000 additional employee apartments here
► Ehrlichstrasse (92 apartments)
► Christopher Columbus Street (41)
► Ringslebenstraße (62)
► Kladow Dam (65)
► Buckower Damm (126)
► Popitzweg (104)
► Zeughofstraße (57)
► Klüberstrasse (88)
► Berliner Strasse (61)
► Semmelweißstrasse (65)
► Kaulsdorfer Allee (224)
But the issue of company housing is not entirely simple for the state of Berlin either. After the austerity measures of recent years, the BVG, for example, had to sell off almost all of its housing. Currently, only 140 are kept, which are given priority to the company’s own employees. For a limited time, furnished apartments are also rented as temporary accommodation.
Although projects are also planned at BVG, residential development is not possible at most of the depots – they are commercial and industrial areas.
