German small businesses ready to hire refugees: survey

More than half of small and medium-sized companies in Germany believe the mass migrant influx can help alleviate the country's shortage of qualified labour and most are willing to hire refugees, a survey revealed on Tuesday. According to the survey conducted by EY (Ernst and Young), so-called SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises, -- which are mostly family-owned and -run and make up the backbone of the German economy -- regard the shortage of qualified employees as their most pressing pro