PressSplit
Companies in eastern Germany are worried that the AfD’s election triumph will lead to a loss of foreign specialists. They are not the only ones avoiding some eastern German companies – locals are also increasingly avoiding them.
Glashütte – With the AfD’s success in the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, many companies fear a smaller influx of foreign skilled workers to East Germany. However, this is essential for the East to remain economically competitive, as a study by the Institute for German Economy (IW) shows. A Saxon entrepreneur has noticed not only a shortage of foreign skilled workers: Germans are also staying away from companies that openly oppose the AfD. The battle for qualified workers in the East is intensifying.
After the AfD’s election success in Saxony and Thuringia, East German companies are increasingly worried about a shortage of skilled workers. © IMAGO
“Natives are staying away”: How applicants stay away from companies with a clear anti-AfD position
Uwe Ahrendt is the managing director of the watch manufacturer Nomos from Glashütte in Saxon Switzerland and the Eastern Ore Mountains and is also active as a Green City Councillor. In an interview with HE DOES While he expresses concern about the lack of foreign skilled workers, he adds that at Nomos it is the other way round: “Natives are staying away.” Applicants who feel put off by the company’s clear anti-AfD stance have already dropped out.
In Glashütte, 40 percent of voters chose the AfDwhile the Greens and the SPD only received 3 percent of the vote. Ahrendt explains: “In East Germany, the difference between town and country is even greater than in the West. And the more rural, the greater the support for the AfD.” However, this does not lead to problems in his company. With around 200 predominantly regional employees, the watch company was well attended even during a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “We all just want to be noticed more,” explains Ahrendt.
East Germany needs more skilled workers – but they don’t want to come
A study by the IW from a year ago already showed that the East needs more immigration to keep its economy going. The proportion of foreign residents with permanent residence permits in the East is one and a half times lower than in the West. However, due to the political orientation of the East, more and more people are turning away. According to the taz Since reunification, around 20 percent of the population in the East has been lost. Economist Monika Schnitzer predicts that the shortage of skilled workers could worsen and that around 20 to 30 percent of the workforce is expected to follow the migration trend in the coming years.
According to the President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), young and qualified citizens in particular are leaving the federal states. “This is likely to result in an increase in bankruptcies and an exodus of companies,” he explains in the taz. Without support from abroad, the semiconductor factories in Saxony could not be operated. Investors and skilled workers could also hesitate to invest in an environment that, according to Dorothee Brakmann, CEO of the pharmaceutical industry association Pharma Deutschland, “is characterized by international exclusion and isolation.”
