NUREMBERG: 24-year-old Benedikt Hanne sat in front of the tram control panel and drove the red and white carriage for hours before going to Nuremberg University to study social work.
As a student, Hanne was closely watched by the coach and there were no passengers on the tram she rode.
But if all goes well, he will soon be a full-time tram driver, transporting people around Nuremberg in the evenings or on weekends when he doesn’t have classes.
Public transport operators such as the Nuremberg city service VAG have had to find new resources to expand their workforce due to severe job shortages.
VAG needs to hire 160 new drivers every year to operate its metro, trams and buses.
For Harald Ruben, who leads the company’s recruitment and training team, “we cannot achieve this goal if we do not explore every possible opportunity.”
A transportation company posted an ad offering a half-day off-campus tram trip to university students.
To get a professional driver’s license, you must be over 21 and be “reliable and fit to drive and work shifts”.
Other sectors in Germany, like other European countries, suffer from severe job shortages, which are expected to worsen if no significant measures are taken.
The gap between workers has led to strikes by public transport workers across the country in recent weeks, with the Verdi union warning that the situation is worsening.
Most operators report vacancy rates between 20 and 30 percent, a shortage that leads to a vicious cycle of overworked employees, then sick leave, and makes the situation worse.
