As of: February 22, 2024, 7:51 a.m
By: Jana Stäbener, Pia Seitler
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In an interview, Marcel Fratzscher talks about how we can solve the shortage of skilled workers and why he finds the discussion about payment cards “horrible”.
The German economy will grow even less than expected next year.
On Wednesday, February 21st, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck will present the annual economic report.
It shows how low the gross domestic product (GDP) will actually be in 2024.
Habeck calls Germany's economic situation “dramatically bad”.
One reason for this is the shortage of skilled workers, which the Green politician describes as a “growth brake”.
DIW President Marcel Fratzscher talks about opportunities for a stronger economy
Prof. Marcel Fratzscher is working on solutions to the shortage of skilled workers.
He is President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and Professor of Macroeconomics at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
In an interview with
BuzzFeed News Germany
, a portal from IPPEN.MEDIA, he talks about three areas in which there are opportunities for a stronger economy: migration, working mothers and the satisfaction of future generations.
In an interview with BuzzFeed News Germany, DIW President Marcel Fratzscher reveals how we need to change the world of work.
(Archive image) © DIW Berlin/Florian Schuh
Mr. Fratzscher, if you had to think about which country you would immigrate to – would you choose Germany?
Intuitively, no.
Germany doesn't have a good welcoming culture and it's also about where you feel comfortable.
What do you mean by that?
For example, the terrible discussion about payment cards.
This gives the impression that people only come to us because of the social benefits.
But people who are desperate, who are looking for protection, come to us, no matter how high the social benefits are.
The only thing we achieve with the payment card is that the IT programmer from India or the engineer from Brazil says: “I won't do that to myself.
I’d rather go where I’m treated properly as a human being.”
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Migration experts speak of 1.5 million immigrants that we need every year to remedy the labor shortage. These aren't just IT programmers and engineers, are they?
We currently have two million open positions in Germany and that affects all sectors.
For this we need high-, low- and unskilled employees.
The key is not qualifications, but how people integrate into the labor market.
So we don’t need a skilled worker immigration law?
Not if it is so restrictive: Why do immigrants have to know German, earn at least 41,000 euros a year or have a master's degree?
We are creating so many hurdles that it is becoming unattractive for many people to come to Germany.
What do we need then?
We need young, motivated people who want to further their education in Germany.
Most people who come to Germany are between 20 and 30 years old.
Even with low qualifications, they are a huge opportunity because they still have a long working life ahead of them.
We can offer these people perspectives.
What do we have to do to offer the over three million people seeking protection in Germany a perspective?
We need to make our training system more flexible.
Instead of requiring a language course and additional qualifications first, we should find refugees a job or training position directly.
Then the training lasts a year and a half longer and a third of it is a language course.
It must be clear to us: It is better if ten percent more people come to us and all of them have a chance of finding work than if ten percent fewer immigrate and do not integrate.
As is currently the case?
We have many immigrants who do not integrate.
The problem is not with them, but with us.
This is shown by the comparison with the Netherlands: Ukrainians have also fled there, many with a similar background to that in Germany.
Now 50 to 60 percent of them have work.
In Germany it is only 25 percent.
This is an article from
BuzzFeed News Germany
.
We are part of the IPPEN.MEDIA network.
All articles from
BuzzFeed News Germany
can be found here .
“We need young, motivated people who want to further their education in Germany,” says economist Marcel Fratzscher (symbolic image).
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
More on the topic: These eight prejudices about refugees are wrong
Labor shortage: How equal opportunities can help us
What other options do we have to fill two million open positions? Do the 66 percent of working mothers who work part-time have to increase their salary?
They don't have to do anything.
But they should have the chance.
Equal opportunities are essential, and when they are lacking, it causes massive damage to the economy.
We need financial incentives to make working more worthwhile for women.
This means we bring many more of them into the job market.
What hinders equal opportunities?
Spousal splitting, for example, is the tax advantage for married couples that increases with the difference in income.
We need to reform spousal splitting.
One solution, for example, would be family splitting, meaning that tax benefits grow proportionally with the number of children instead of with the difference in income.
Who then takes care of the children and those in need of care? Germans do unpaid care work worth 825 billion euros every year. Women do most of this.
Equal opportunities only work if we expand the care system and childcare.
This gives women the opportunity to work more, earn more and pay more taxes.
This strengthens the economy.
It is more efficient for one specialist to look after ten children than for ten mothers to stay at home with their child.
If we strengthen childcare, we can relieve the burden on more people and thus put more people to work.
That doesn't mean it's a compulsion.
But really every person should have a choice.
This is particularly important for single working parents, of whom there are more and more people and who feel the strain even more acutely.
Care work and household chores are often left to women.
(Symbolic image) © Panthermedia/IMAGO
Our author explains why she can no longer look forward to having children
Fratzscher on Generation Z: “It’s not egoism, it’s self-protection”
Many employees in Germany suffer from stress. According to a recent study, 61 percent of them even fear burnout - 30 percent have already had one. Why is that?
One reason is the delimitation of work.
Many employees view home office, digitalization and flexible working hours positively.
But all of this also has dangerous sides.
Work is no longer limited and everyone is practically always available.
A second point is the changing demands on work.
Our jobs have become much more complex.
Employees have to constantly learn and their tasks change.
This puts a lot of people under pressure.
So is Generation Z right when they demand a better work-life balance?
We should all learn a lesson from Generation Z.
Even when I was young, old white men complained about how lazy the younger generation was.
We just have to ignore that.
Wars, climate crisis and corona pandemic - rarely has a generation had such difficult starting opportunities as Gen Z. This is not egoism, this is self-protection.
How does the world of work have to change so that not only Gen Z, but everyone remains happy, healthy and therefore productive?
The world of work must respond more to the individual needs of employees and take into account their wishes regarding working hours, place of work and responsibility.
People who want to work less should work less.
Of course, they don't get as much done in four days as they do in five days.
But if we take into account the increasing number of sick days and the increasing number of people unable to work, it becomes clear: it makes economic sense for people to work as much as they want.
Care, childcare, mental health: has the economy neglected these “emotional” issues too much?
This must be the focus in the future.
It annoys me that many companies always point the finger at politics.
They are responsible for ensuring that their employees are healthy and happy.
That could mean putting money into training immigrants, offering flexible working hours or going digital so parents can work from home.
More on the topic: This young woman also believes that the world of work must change