Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Immigration Chatter

There was a business conference held in Berlin yesterday.  A number of speeches came up and some political leaders showed up to talk about one sensitive topic on the minds of business operations in Germany.....immigration.

The Interior Ministry chief.....Thomas de Maiziere (CDU) stood up and delivered a carefully worded statement.  There's a hint that the government (mostly run by the CDU/CSU and a partnership with the SPD Party.....wants to have some better process of allowing immigrants into Germany.  What he suggests is targeted 'advertising'.  It's hard to imagine how this 'advertising' would work and how you limit the front door opening for some people but not others.

The SPD? They had a chance to talk at the conference and their suggestion was a point-system.  Two months ago, there was some discussion within the SPD of going toward the Canada system....where your work experience and education mattered.....accumulating points....to decide if you were allowed in or simply sent away.

Over the past five years, since the 2008 economic stumble.....Germany has had this big advantage of a robust economy when compared against countries like Italy, Greece, and Spain.  To some degree....Germany companies got smart....recruited from these countries and got college graduates of the three countries to come in and work here in Germany.  In the case of Greece....it's hit the Greek business structure in terms of future options.   Germany got highly trained individuals which they didn't have to pay for the education or training.

The current German immigration program is a difficult program to measure in terms of success or long-term advantages.  While on one side, there's a high number of college graduates....on the other side is a segment of the new population which has no real education and at best will be stocking shelves in grocery stores or driving buses.

The general public perception?  It's hard to say if the public is buying into any type of success formula here.  There are right-wing elements of the German public who question the logic and wisdom of the current program.  There are left-wing elements of the public which simply see more votes in the coming elections for certain political parties.  Crime is on the increase, but you can't attribute that to immigration issues.  Funding issues in individual states are being noticed as immigration forced issues cost state funds and aren't readily covered by the federal budget.

Maybe these speeches will pick up some business interest and push along some type of better organized agenda....whether 'advertising' or points work in the end. Anything.....is better than nothing.

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