Actually, everyone agrees: Germany needs skilled workers from outside for its economic future. At the ARD Monday talk “Hard but fair”, Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann is getting louder and louder. And then moderator Louis Klamroth lets him scold alone that evening.
“Specialists are urgently needed, and not only in the Defense Ministry,” Plasberg successor Louis Klamroth opens his second “Hard but fair” on the day the Defense Minister resigned. And as the first guest, he welcomes Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, who that evening is still considered a candidate to succeed Lambrecht.
“I still have a lot planned as Labor Minister,” Hubertus Heil replies. Then the Minister of Labor speaks almost as Minister of Defense for the moment: “The troops have the right to get orientation,” says Heil, “it won’t take that long.”
Specialists urgently needed – not only in the Ministry of Defense. 400,000 more migrants would have to come every year in order to stay. The lack allows strange blossoms to sprout. Employers are already making monkeys on TikTok to attract applicants. In the ARD Monday Talk, Astrid Sartorius reports for her clinic group that unusual ways are necessary to find staff abroad.
In the situation, journalist Gabor Steingart reminds of the 700,000 apartments that are missing in Germany: “You can’t let the migrants loose on this country alone.” have. Kaddor: “Immigration shouldn’t scare us!”
The need for skilled workers is well known. The need is great. And yet the boundaries are very different. Hubertus Heil is confident: “Skilled workers ensure prosperity – we need qualified immigration!”
“We need more qualified immigration,” said Bavaria’s Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann. And then he prefers to talk about Bavaria and little more. “No other federal state,” he says, “has qualified so many immigrants as successfully as Bavaria in the past 20 years.” At this point, the moderator comments quite immoderately: “Advertising drum!”
The relationship between the CSU man and the host does not improve that evening. Herrmann gets louder and louder. Klamroth repeatedly grabs the Interior Minister’s arm to calm him down. The intensity is surprising. Because the differences aren’t actually that big. Herrmann receives applause when he demands that illegal immigrants leave the country again. The applause is cheap – because none of the participants in the discussion raised any objections on this point. “Mr. Herrmann, calm down,” demands Hubertus Heil. And he adds: “We can no longer afford the arguments of the past.” When it gets too loud for him, moderator Louis Klamroth turns away and lets the Bavarian Minister of the Interior rant alone.
The new era, as the Federal Minister of Labor describes it: the baby boomers are retiring. The shortage of skilled workers is becoming more dramatic. Economic success, and that applies worldwide, needs qualified employees. The logical consequence for Hubertus Heil: “We are in competition. There are only 100 million people who speak German. 80 million are already living with us.” The Federal Minister of Labor therefore sees the competitive advantage very soberly in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
Now pragmatism is required. In short: “We can’t afford arrogance and bureaucracy.” For Hubertus Heil, a faster route to a German passport and the possibility of dual citizenship are a necessity. “That’s not,” he says with unusual vehemence, “not selling the German passport at a bargain price.” There have long been millions of people in Germany with two passports – including in ministries: “Let’s not make such a bugbear out of it.”
