Tuesday, September 15, 2015

A Ton of Enthusiasm

Focus (the German news magazine) carried an interesting piece on comments by Daimler's CEO....Dieter Zetsche.

He's looked at the refugee crisis, and come to this conclusion about how this might change things.  He says there's enthusiasm by these refugees walking in....they want to be here and they want to be part of Germany's success story.  He's more positive on this episode, than negative.

In his sphere of thinking....he agrees, there probably are no rocket-scientists among this massive group of potentially a million people.  But it's hard to make up for enthusiasm, and that's the one key ingredient that these people bring.

Focus mentions near the end of the piece.....roughly 40,000 apprentice positions were unfilled in the last year or two.....at least several studies have suggested this.

I agree on the enthusiasm comment.  You can't go out and find this one key ingredient with most people.  Most Germans didn't walk 2,000 kilometers this past summer to reach Germany.  Most Germans didn't deal with a harsh environment or the threat made against their family.  Most Germans didn't didn't climb into a leaking boat and hoped it stayed sea-worthy for twelve hours while they crossed the sea. Most Germans didn't camp out for forty-odd days and suffer through rain-storms with no real cover.

The issue though.....when months go by and you finally get out of the camp and get to the first real point of integration or reality.....and that job is a stock-shelf guy at some grocery.....will the enthusiasm continue on?  Some people will get job training and find occupations that fulfill their greatest dream.  Some people will wake up in two years and ask why they came.  You'd hope for success in this situation, but it's hard to say how this ends.

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