German engineering giant Siemens on Tuesday announced an ambitious, multi-pronged program for integrating some of the tens of thousands of refugees arriving in Germany.

The first stage, to be launched in October, will see the company significantly expanding its 8-week internship program already running in the city of Erlangen. New locations would include Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, the company said, and could offer up to 100 extra refugees the chance to get a head start on the German job market. This would be a ten-fold increase over the current number of internships offered in Erlangen.

Siemens stressed that refugees accepted to the program would receive the "usual intern pay and [would] be assigned a local contact person to help and advise them."

In addition to extending its internship program, the firm announced it would also create four special classes at the company's locations in Berlin, Erlangen/Nuremberg, Krefeld/Düsseldorf, and Karlsruhe, "designed to lay the foundation for a successful career start." The six-month training program would include a mix of German language courses, an introduction to German culture and customs, as well as vocational preparation, a spokesperson told DW.

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