Heil: "The consequences of this war will be felt for many years"

Created: 04/11/2022 10:34 am

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil: The SPD politician expects that the consequences of the Ukraine war will continue to weigh on the German economy for a long time to come.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

Subdued growth, more short-time work: The Ukraine war is also leaving its mark in Germany.

The federal government wants to prepare Germany for further possible consequences.

Berlin – The federal government wants to secure the labor market in Germany even if the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine* has further negative economic effects.

"We can shield what is currently foreseeable on the labor market with a strong welfare state," said Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) of the German Press Agency in Berlin.

"If the crisis worsens, we will take additional measures." In the debate about tightening the sanctions against Russia*, Heil warned to always pay attention to internal and social peace in Germany. 

Minister of Labor: "Can learn from experiences of the pandemic"

Heil said: "When dealing with the consequences of Putin's terrible war of aggression in Ukraine for the labor market and economy in Germany, we can learn from the experiences of the ongoing crisis resulting from the corona pandemic." economic valley” can secure millions of jobs and stabilize demand.

Since 2020, 44.1 billion euros have been spent on short-time work, 26 billion of which come from reserves of the Federal Employment Agency (BA).

The effort was worth it, the job market remained robust and stable.

"My goal is that we keep the German labor market robust and stable even through these difficult times," said the SPD politician.

Heil referred to the 590,000 short-time workers forecast by the BA on average for 2022. This is a lot, but still less than at the beginning of 2020. "At the beginning of the pandemic, we had peaks of up to 6 million people on short-time work," said Heil .

"But we don't know how long this war will last." The consequences can already be felt in the supply chains, for example.

That is why the conditions for short-time work were quickly adjusted after the beginning of the war, for example short-time work was also opened up to temporary work.

"As the federal government, we will come to an agreement that the federal agency is able to act at any time and can build up reserves again after the crises," said the Minister of Labor.

She will also devote more attention to other topics such as qualification in the changing world of work.

Heil only expects little economic growth

At the same time, Heil pointed out that the war in Ukraine could have long-term and serious economic consequences for Germany.

"We don't know what other economic and social consequences this war will have." In an interview published over the weekend, Heil had mentioned expected economic growth of 1.4 to 1.5 percent* for Germany this year - with the proviso that the war does not spread and that the energy supply is standing.

Heil said: "That also depends on the question of what measures we take in the area of ​​sanctions." Very severe sanctions were taken.

The pressure on the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin must be increased further.

"But we must always keep in mind that our sanctions harm Putin more than us."

Heil: External and internal security must not be played off against each other

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the sanctions previously imposed on Russia as “highly effective” on Friday and defended the German no to an immediate gas boycott*.

When asked if there could be a situation in which external security takes precedence over social security and a complete energy embargo is then indicated, Heil replied: “I believe that external strength and security and internal and social peace are two sides of the same coin. "

Heil said: "We will feel the consequences of this terrible war for many, many years, including here." Wherever possible, he will do his part to cushion the consequences for the German labor market, cushion price increases and that refugees would be integrated.

"It would not be wise to play off the necessities of external security against social security," said Heil.

"As a society, we have to be resilient both internally and externally, and our capable and strong state must also live up to its responsibility to protect internally and externally."