Metropolitan region to set up contact point for occupational health

8 September 2022

More counselling services on work and health to secure supply of skilled labour

A new, supraregional counselling service is to open its doors in Lübeck through 2025 to secure a supply of skilled labour and to keep employees healthy, a press release said in August. The service has received EUR 630,000 in funds from the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. This comes after a survey by Statista found that cases of incapacity to work due to mental illness have more than doubled over the past 20 years and has far-reaching repercussions for companies and the economy.

New counselling centre and "mobile pilots"

The new counselling centre will operate like a network with links to employment agencies and insurance companies. Mobile pilots are to be deployed to SMEs to offer initial counselling and referrals to other services. The free advice service is available to employees quickly and without complications. The IKK Nord and Deutsche Rentenversicherung Nord are putting another EUR 190,000 towards the service.

Supraregional co-operation in metropolitan region

"The need for counselling especially in relation to stress at work has increased against the backdrop of the coronavirus-induced restrictions of the past two years," said Pia Steinrücke, Senator for Economic and Social Affairs in Lübeck. A sustainable network of contact points is to be created, which will enable low-threshold counselling throughout the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. "We want to ensure that offers are taken up in good time and to initiate a nationwide counselling structure that boosts supraregional co-operation between the federal states, municipalities, social, accident and pension insurance agencies," said Jakob Richter, Head of the Office of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.

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