Skilled labor shortage in Teltow-Fläming – Nothing works here without immigrants
Sun 01/14/24 | 8:40 a.m. | By Alexander Goligovsky
rbb
Video: rbb24 Brandenburg aktuell | 09.01.2024 | Alexander Goligovsky | Image: rbb
Teltow-Fläming is the economic driving force of Brandenburg. No other district has so many industrial companies. But economic growth is in danger: a shortage of skilled workers. Attracting workers from abroad is complicated. By Alexander Goligovsky
It rustles, it buzzes, it beeps. At Hesco in Luckenwalde, the factory hall is full of machines that print, cast or inject plastic parts, primarily for the automotive industry. Managing director Felix Reiche proudly shows you around his family business. After reunification, his father rebuilt the business, and now his son is taking over the reins.
The order books are full, but things could be going better because one or two machines are currently idle. “Actually, they could run around the clock, that would also be better for the machines. But we don’t run all shifts because we don’t have the people to do it,” explains Felix Reiche, pointing to the latest acquisition. “For this machine we need special specialists, so-called plastic molders. You have to be familiar with IT and also chemistry; the training takes four years. That’s why these people are few and far between and hotly sought after.”
In other words: Hesco hardly has a chance against the lucrative job offers from West Germany. Around five employees have been permanently missing for years.
The proportion of foreigners among employees is growing
The shortage of skilled workers is preventing Hesco from growing. The company with its 50 employees has recently often been left behind in the competition for orders because production could not promise the quantities that customers from large industries demanded. So where do we get workers from? “If we look at the numbers, we will not be able to cope without skilled workers from abroad in the future,” says Felix Reiche.
He is concerned about Brandenburg’s competitiveness, as he explains, if it fails to become more attractive to workers from abroad. Five out of 50 employees at Hesco are already of non-German origin – ten percent. This puts the company in the Brandenburg average. While in 2015, according to the employment agency, only 3.8 percent of employees in Brandenburg were of foreign origin, as of 2023 it is now 10.9 percent. In the Teltow-Fläming district, this proportion is significantly higher. Here, almost 20 percent of the employees are not German.
“It may well be that at some point we will no longer be able to keep up”
The skilled worker Mohammed Faour is a Syrian by birth and has been a German citizen since this year. A long journey for the 22-year-old, who came to Germany as a minor in 2015. He completed his training at Hesco and then remained loyal to the company. But he also knows his market value, says Felix Reiche with a smile. “Of course, Mohammed gets offers, companies fight among themselves for young skilled workers. It may well be that at some point we will no longer be able to keep up, we always have to keep an eye on the salary structure within the company,” he says.
Companies in Germany cannibalize each other when it comes to skilled workers. Overall, more is needed, be it through training or from abroad. When asked about the current political situation, Felix Reiche says: “A cosmopolitan appearance of our state, but also of the entire Federal Republic, is essential for us, both because of our international clientele and for recruiting new skilled workers from abroad.”
Immigration bureaucracy is a location disadvantage
Foreign employees are also an integral part of ESB Schulte in Luckenwalde. The company produces technical components for automatic doors. There are simpler tasks and highly complex tasks on computer-aided machines. Around a quarter of the workforce of 120 employees are of foreign origin.
Steffen Mamerow from the management team says he has permanently advertised at least six positions. He is standing next to a new CNC machine. It cost half a million euros and is currently at a standstill. “We also lack skilled workers, so this shift is currently vacant. It’s not a happy situation,” he says.
Together with co-boss Sven Ziege, Mamerow also searches specifically on international portals. That’s how they found Luciano Rasteli. The North Macedonian is currently operating a machine that produces special components for fire doors. He has been working for ESB Schulte since January 2023. His path to Germany as a specialist was marked by major bureaucratic hurdles for the company. Without the personal commitment of the bosses it wouldn’t have worked. Just the family reunification of Rasteli’s wife and two children was a bureaucratic monster, as Mamerow explains. He and Ziege looked for an apartment, organized language courses, got school places for the children and a job for the wife – without it she would not have been allowed to enter the country.
New immigration law aims to reduce hurdles
“Luciano had to wait for his family for over half a year if we hadn’t taken care of it – the German bureaucracy would have been impossible for the family,” says Sven Ziege, describing the situation and appearing worried. “In my opinion, this has to be much easier in the future. If we reduce the bureaucratic hurdles, more specialists like Luciano will be able and willing to come here and support us,” says Ziege.
With the so-called Skilled Immigration Act, which has been gradually coming into force since November 2023, such things should finally be regulated. The entry of skilled workers should become easier and foreign professional qualifications should be recognized more easily. How well does the law work? Business associations believe the new law is correct. However, it is still too early for Hesco and ESB Schulte to make an assessment. Only when they get their positions filled in the near future can the immigration law prove to be effective.
Broadcast: rbb24 Brandenburg aktuell, January 9th, 2024, 7:30 p.m
Contribution by Alexander Goligowski