Visit to Africa: Lindner advertises in Ghana for skilled workers – that’s the reaction

The skills shortage in Germany is now growing into a serious problem in almost all sectors. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has now promoted Germany as a business location to students at a university in Ghana. The reactions to his lecture surprised even him.

Speaking in a lecture hall at a university in Ghana’s capital Accra Lindner lists things in English: You can work in industry, in technology, in IT, in the public sector. A snippet of his appearance can be seen on Twitter. “Please raise your hand: who would that be an option for?”

Christian Lindner in Ghana: This is how the students react to him

The lecture hall is not particularly well filled, at least a third of the seats are free. A few hands go up hesitantly. Lindner apparently expected more euphoria: “Okay,” he says. He points in the direction of a few studentswho have reported. “I’ll write down your numbers,” he says. Big laughter among the students. Lindner turns around and checks the situation: no, more have actually reported. “Only so few?” he asks, clearly surprised.

Lindner’s lecture and his courtship underscore two things: Germany needs skilled workers from abroad, and urgently so. Yes, and this is the second aspect, the federal republic is obviously not as popular with young people abroad as the federal government thought for a long time. Relevant comments can also be found under the ZDF recording tweet. “We’re not that keen on foreign skilled workers,” writes a Berliner. Another user comments: “I know many from the IT sector who have decided against D. Racism, arrogance and bureaucracy are some of the reasons.” Also interesting: Cancel vacation: Can an employer cancel approved vacation days?

Others point to the relatively high degree of digitalization in Ghana, the country’s own need for skilled workers and the fact that the most important official language is English – which means that applicants would naturally be more interested in English-speaking countries such as the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Ireland.

On lecturer from the TU Dresden dismisses this: “If I ask something in the Audimax, usually nothing happens at first, like here. It’s a major event with a strange setting. Shows to me that Ghanaian studies tick like ours. Nothing more.” Another writes about his own experiences in Ghana: As a rule, people there do not comment on such topics in public. “I would not draw any conclusions about Lindner or the attractiveness of Germany from this.” Also read: USA: Why seven million men don’t want to work.

Shortage of skilled workers: Nahles criticizes the federal government

That Germany has a problem with the international recruitment of skilled workers, is beyond question, even among experts. From the point of view of the head of the employment agency, Andrea Nahles, the previous plans of the traffic light coalition are not sufficient. There are still too many “bottlenecks,” said Nahles of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper”. She warns again and again that an immigration of 400,000 workers per year is needed to keep the number of potential workers stable. More on the subject: Study: Without immigration and a later pension, there will be a lack of skilled workers

The federal government wants to fill the gap in skilled workers in Germany with many more workers from abroad in the future. It should be reinforced Non-EU Citizens are allowed to enter the country without a recognized qualification. Selection criteria should be professional experience or a connection to Germany. (mja/with material from dpa)

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