The Welcome Center KMU – Rheinisches Revier (WCR) supports and assists companies (SMEs) with up to 250 employees and international skilled workers with all complex issues related to labor migration. From recruitment to workplace integration management, the WCR teams are available to assist you with their expertise and their network of partners and institutions in the region—offering practical, free-of-charge support. Our goal is to ensure that international skilled workers settle well in the area, gain adequate access to the labor market and experience fair and effective workplace integration. At the same time, the WCR network provides equal support to businesses. We want labor migration to become a stable pillar of securing international skilled workers in the Rheinisches Revier for SMEs as well.

»By funding the Welcome Center, we are establishing a support and guidance structure in the Rheinischen Revier that both companies and foreign workers can turn to.«                                                            _{Karl-Josef Laumann, Minister of work for North Rhine-Westphalia}

When asked why the Ministry of Labor of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia is establishing a Welcome Center in the Rheinisches Revier, North Rhine-Westphalia`s Minister of work Karl-Josef Laumann says: »The Rheinisches Revier faces particular challenges in light of the impending phase-out of coal. For the transformation to succeed, it is crucial that there are enough skilled workers on the ground who can contribute to it. To achieve this, we must first make the best possible use of the domestic labor pool. At the same time, however, it is clear that we also need skilled workers from abroad to sustain our economy and public services. Simultaneously, the procedures for international skilled worker´s immigration remain extremely complex. By supporting the Welcome Center, we are creating a point of contact and support structure in the Rheinisches Revier that both companies and skilled workers from abroad can turn to. The Center will help ensure that their arrival in the area and their integration into the workplace are successful.«

The Welcome Center in the Rhineland Mining Area is Funded…

… by the Ministry of work, Health, and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and through funds from the Just Transition Fund (JTF/ESF). Under the joint WCR umbrella, the Westdeutscher Handwerkskammertag e.V. (WHKT), IHK Mittlerer-Niederrhein, Stadt Aachen, Städteregion Aachen, Vereinigte Unternehmerverbände (VUV Aachen) and the Qualitec GmbH/HWK Aachen have joined forces. These organizations work closely in cooperation with existing institutions, communities, and relevant administrative bodies, thereby serving as a supportive link between international skilled workers and businesses, as well as relevant agencies and structures.

Minister Laumann presented the grant award notification to the project sponsors on August 26, 2025, at the NRW Ministry of Labor in Düsseldorf. As part of the project selection process, interested sponsors from the region had developed and submitted their proposals to the ministry by March 21, 2025. An independent panel evaluated these proposals. State funding is scheduled to run through June 31, 2028.