I believe, the problem is much deeper, though. As someone working in HR field, I have to deal with the managers, who very often are not open to hire someone only with English skills, or with a B2 of German, or pay for the German course for people. Partly, because German is already required for the job (Sales or any client-facing role for instance) on a C2 level, partly because they don't want to invest, partly because they still believe German-natives are somewhere out there. One could argue, German language is also pretty hard to learn, and as a foreigner myself I can tell: despite speaking a very high level of German and working in this language, I still sometimes get some "nice" comments from my colleagues regarding my German skills. One even said "either you are native, or you don't know any German at all". Also, something which is a hiring culture in Europe, imho, - people really hire for experience, not for potential. So people are hired to straight away delivery very high results, especially in Privatwirtschaft. Also, as someone who used to work a lot in an NGO with refugees, I must admit an unpopular, and unfortunately, unpleasant, truth: not everyone is interested to set up for less than they had in their country. People often have quite high expectations from a life as a refugee/migrant - "my life here should be much better than my life used to be". Germany is still very often seen as this extremely rich country, where everyone has a big house, 2 BMWs etc. We know it is not true, but it is what people outside have in their mind as a stereotype.
Totally agree with the language issue, anecdotally i know several educated professionals who cannot get a job because they do not know German well enough (they came here as partners of someone employed). Even in international companies where English fluency is mandatory, the employers require knowledge of German too.
This is why EU freedom of movement is a bit of a myth. Don't get me wrong, I am fully anti-Brexit, but the utopian ideal that anyone inside EU is free to set themselves up anywhere else in EU is far from the reality on a continent where 24 different languages are spoken. Temp agencies are able to place non-skilled workers by taking care of the admin for a sizable handling fee, but white collar work in the private sector remains elusive to non-native speakers.
On top of that the labour market for semi-skilled professions is artificially restricted by overbearing requirements for specific qualifications, certifications and licences. This protectionist model allows Germany to offer a far better standard of living for the lower half of its working population than is found in other less socially democratic oriented economies - a fine and noble intention but a system too rigid to respond to the Fachkräftemangel it now faces.
Yes, specific qualifications, certifications, certain grades only or licences acquired only in Germany is another big pain point for foreigners and makes the German market almost as an exclusive membership club where one either needs to be extremely patient and start completely from scratch or just give up.
While your article succinctly identifies the unemployment challenge at the macro level, I offer some feedback on my observations at the fundamental level.
For starters, I decided to attend a German language course to improve my grammar. My classmates are 2 from Georgia, 1 from Poland, 1 from Cuba via Italy and 2 from the Ukraine. The Ukrainians attended 2-3 classes and did not attend any further because they had no interest in learning German. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, how does a refugee assimilate if they can't speak or write German? Obviously they can't and therein lies a major cause of refugees not working. Another example, Ukrainian mother of 3 receives €4300 per month from the state, know many dedicated professionals who would savor that income. You would also be shocked to learn how many Ukrainian women have no intention of returning to the Ukraine. And the German politicians are concerned about some key....perhaps they need to change the lock!
Sounds like a hate-comment towards Ukrainians. You judge by some people you met and some Ukrainian mother that you probably event did not meet. None of the refugees are a problem for the situation that happened in Germany at the moment. People experienced war and a lot of them are extremely traumatized, having a suitcase syndrome at least.
You make a valid point about other problems the refugees may have, however translating that as hate is not justified. Craig's observations are what they are. Perhaps you have a suggestion that might have encouraged the two women in his class to continue to try ? As an outside observer, I can see that the system is overstressed. Whatever their trauma, there needs to be the realization that a broken system will eventually collapse, and then who is helped?
While unlikely, at the moment anyways, it might be interesting to think about what policies a potential AFD government might bring in a d how they’d differ from a CDU/CSU government.
I believe, the problem is much deeper, though. As someone working in HR field, I have to deal with the managers, who very often are not open to hire someone only with English skills, or with a B2 of German, or pay for the German course for people. Partly, because German is already required for the job (Sales or any client-facing role for instance) on a C2 level, partly because they don't want to invest, partly because they still believe German-natives are somewhere out there. One could argue, German language is also pretty hard to learn, and as a foreigner myself I can tell: despite speaking a very high level of German and working in this language, I still sometimes get some "nice" comments from my colleagues regarding my German skills. One even said "either you are native, or you don't know any German at all". Also, something which is a hiring culture in Europe, imho, - people really hire for experience, not for potential. So people are hired to straight away delivery very high results, especially in Privatwirtschaft. Also, as someone who used to work a lot in an NGO with refugees, I must admit an unpopular, and unfortunately, unpleasant, truth: not everyone is interested to set up for less than they had in their country. People often have quite high expectations from a life as a refugee/migrant - "my life here should be much better than my life used to be". Germany is still very often seen as this extremely rich country, where everyone has a big house, 2 BMWs etc. We know it is not true, but it is what people outside have in their mind as a stereotype.
Totally agree with the language issue, anecdotally i know several educated professionals who cannot get a job because they do not know German well enough (they came here as partners of someone employed). Even in international companies where English fluency is mandatory, the employers require knowledge of German too.
This is why EU freedom of movement is a bit of a myth. Don't get me wrong, I am fully anti-Brexit, but the utopian ideal that anyone inside EU is free to set themselves up anywhere else in EU is far from the reality on a continent where 24 different languages are spoken. Temp agencies are able to place non-skilled workers by taking care of the admin for a sizable handling fee, but white collar work in the private sector remains elusive to non-native speakers.
On top of that the labour market for semi-skilled professions is artificially restricted by overbearing requirements for specific qualifications, certifications and licences. This protectionist model allows Germany to offer a far better standard of living for the lower half of its working population than is found in other less socially democratic oriented economies - a fine and noble intention but a system too rigid to respond to the Fachkräftemangel it now faces.
Yes, specific qualifications, certifications, certain grades only or licences acquired only in Germany is another big pain point for foreigners and makes the German market almost as an exclusive membership club where one either needs to be extremely patient and start completely from scratch or just give up.
While your article succinctly identifies the unemployment challenge at the macro level, I offer some feedback on my observations at the fundamental level.
For starters, I decided to attend a German language course to improve my grammar. My classmates are 2 from Georgia, 1 from Poland, 1 from Cuba via Italy and 2 from the Ukraine. The Ukrainians attended 2-3 classes and did not attend any further because they had no interest in learning German. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, how does a refugee assimilate if they can't speak or write German? Obviously they can't and therein lies a major cause of refugees not working. Another example, Ukrainian mother of 3 receives €4300 per month from the state, know many dedicated professionals who would savor that income. You would also be shocked to learn how many Ukrainian women have no intention of returning to the Ukraine. And the German politicians are concerned about some key....perhaps they need to change the lock!
Sounds like a hate-comment towards Ukrainians. You judge by some people you met and some Ukrainian mother that you probably event did not meet. None of the refugees are a problem for the situation that happened in Germany at the moment. People experienced war and a lot of them are extremely traumatized, having a suitcase syndrome at least.
You make a valid point about other problems the refugees may have, however translating that as hate is not justified. Craig's observations are what they are. Perhaps you have a suggestion that might have encouraged the two women in his class to continue to try ? As an outside observer, I can see that the system is overstressed. Whatever their trauma, there needs to be the realization that a broken system will eventually collapse, and then who is helped?
While unlikely, at the moment anyways, it might be interesting to think about what policies a potential AFD government might bring in a d how they’d differ from a CDU/CSU government.