How a right-wing political shift threatens Thuringia's economy

DW (English)

As voters in the regional state of Thuringia go to the polls, businesses hope the right-wing AfD party can be reigned in. Xenophobic sentiment tghreatens to keep migrants away who are desperately needed as workers.

Transcript

00:00Thuringia in Eastern Germany has a problem. An aging population and a dearth of young

00:06people. Employers find it challenging to hire new talent.

00:14Two months ago, I had a job application from a chemical engineer. His wife came from Brazil.

00:20He wanted to work for us right away, but his wife was scared. She didn't want to be in

00:24Thuringia.

00:28What was she scared of? Racism and xenophobia. Companies are worried that the political climate

00:34here hurts the attractiveness of the state.

00:39I'm worried. When they're talking about re-migration, colleagues of mine will leave.

00:44We have one strong party, which is extremely right-wing and scares people away.

00:51Thuringia, however, needs migrants. With an average age of 47.7 years, the state's population

00:58is older than the German average. Thus, it's even more reliant on skilled workers from

01:04elsewhere.

01:05We're already lacking workers, and by 2035, a quarter million people here will retire.

01:13Cooperation instead of segregation. That's the motto this business group is using to

01:18advertise a more tolerant Thuringia. The extremely right-wing AFD party currently

01:23leads in the polls, and businesses are worried.

01:28If we fail to secure our labor markets for migrants as well as for locals, then the economy

01:34will take a turn for the worse.

01:38Already skilled workers are lacking in businesses across the board, including the construction

01:44sector.

01:46It's getting more difficult by the day. There's a demographic problem in Thuringia. That's

01:53why we need workers from abroad. It's important to integrate them well, that we train them

01:57and teach them German language, among other things. It's important they speak German.

02:02Otherwise we'll have a hard time with workers' protection laws.

02:10The construction company has 320 employees. Currently, only 10 of them are from abroad.

02:17But even if they left, the company would have to expect difficulties.

02:25As a company, we would see a lot less revenue. We know how much revenue we make per person.

02:30On average, and with 10 people less, it would mean that the machines wouldn't be worked

02:35at capacity. We'd have to leave equipment unused, maybe have to sell it. We'd likely

02:40lose a million euros in revenue.

02:51On the countryside, the situation is even worse, says Michael Petri, who's been looking

02:56to hire for a while.

03:00We're located in the midst of Thuringia, but the rural part of Thuringia. Now you'd have

03:08to know that the state's demography has changed after the wall came down. Between 30 and 40

03:13percent of the people left.

03:19And most of them never came back. Which has led to the demographic situation that's been

03:24bothering the state ever since.

03:31It's really difficult to find people to hire. And I'm not only talking about skilled labor,

03:37but literally any job you need to fill.

03:41To have a bit of an edge trying to attract young people, the company has switched to

03:46a four-day work week. It's one step, but it likely won't solve Thuringia's problems.

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