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