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For example:

"Die Lernpartnerschaft ist nicht als reine Beschaffungsmaßnahme für das Unternehmen zu sehen" (link)

That is, if "Beschaffung" stands (only) for "procurement" (buying things), why should someone associate partnership with it?

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    Please check a dictionary and clarify why it didn't help you understand the text: This is a good dictionary Nov 20, 2019 at 11:04
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    I strongly disagree that dict.cc is in any way good. A translation without explanation is potentially useless. In case of compound nouns, the usual strategy is to look up the parts separately, but in this case, both duden.de and dwds.de define Beschaffung as Beschaffen, which does not help either. If the dictionaries do not help, consider checking an encyclopaedia such as Wikipedia (see also the corresponding English article).
    – David Vogt
    Nov 20, 2019 at 11:18
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    To avoid getting your question downvoted and potentially closed, you could show us what research you have undertaken, or explain why the word as it is used in the linked article poses a problem.
    – David Vogt
    Nov 20, 2019 at 11:27
  • Please include a little bit more context from source. Thus you have the problem to translate the other parts correctly to set the right frame :) Nov 20, 2019 at 12:30

4 Answers 4

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Reading the entire link, you get more context:

  • it is about a company working together with a school
  • the company provides learning facilities and learning material
  • the company needs new employees
  • which e.g. get educated in a professional development (german wikipedia: Berufsausbildung),

So the company needs students which are interested into the jobs this company offers. As a "movement in society" it became quite unpopular to become a blue collar worker.

That is why in your example the company wants to stress that there is no duty for the school's students to become worker at the company.

Which would be like a procurement/ acquisition - you just get your (to be educated) workforce by contract from that school.

Edit / Note:

The english wikipedia has two entries about "job education" as well as the german: the already linked "professional development" - and the "career/ vocational development" (german: Berufsbildung). As noted in the german wikipedia there is overlapping in the topics.

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In German, you do not use "Beschaffung" as a typical word for procurement - Duden denotes it but in reality you find it more for formal positions.

  • You could use "Anschaffung" which typically is used in the context of an object you buy.

  • If you do want to emphasise on the work of the procurement tasks, then you use "Beschaffungsmaßnahme".

I see a slightly negative co-notation of "Beschaffungsmaßnahme". In most contexts I have seen it, it was also meant as "well, we could do something more useful instead of this procurement".

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  • The normal word would be "Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme". I heard very often people talk about "Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme(n)", but never about "Beschaffungsmaßnahmen". Duden doesn't know it, and Duden is one of our biggest dictionaries. Here it means "Beschaffung = Gewinnung / Anwerbung / Acquise von neuen Mitarbeitern" (für das Unternehmen). Nov 20, 2019 at 23:26
  • 'In German, you do not use "Beschaffung" as a typical word for procurement' - as far as I know, one actually does, in the same industry jargon that uses otherwise unusual words such as "Fertigung". Nov 24, 2019 at 14:27
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"Beschaffung" stands (only) for "procurement",(buying things) why should someone associate partnership with it?

Well, that's exactly what the sentence wants to say: The partnership is NOT just a pure (keine reine) procurement. But of course it's among other things also a procurement, a way to come in contact with good people to work for the company.

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My guess is that it is short for Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme – labour procurement measure. This was a labour market policy once. It was critized as not having the main function of integrating the unemployed, but mitigating employment rate statistics.

It's a peculiar use of Beschaffung because this is usually related to goods, not humans.

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