Number of foreign employees growing in Saxony - complaints about many hurdles

Crimmitschau/Chemnitz. Zakaria Raffali came to Saxony from Morocco to train as a mechatronics technician. The 24-year-old is enthusiastic about the good training and working conditions. This morning, he is checking screws on a filter system with his shift supervisor Karsten Viehweger. Communication is not a problem, says Viehweger - if necessary, they sometimes resort to English or a translator app. Her company, the automotive supplier Linamar, employs people from more than 20 nations at its sites in Crimmitschau and Reinsdorf in Saxony. It is by no means alone in the Free State.

Cooperation among the workforce works very well, reports plant manager Enrico Held. "Sometimes our Vietnamese trainees give the German trainees extra tuition." However, he complains about the enormous bureaucracy. It starts with the visa and extends to opening bank accounts or concluding mobile phone contracts when employees come from abroad. This is a lot of work for the companies. At the same time, the companies themselves and their workforces also need to rethink. Instead of foreign specialists learning German, English could become more important for everyone. "We all need to take a good look at ourselves," says Held.

At FDTech in Chemnitz, which specialises in driver assistance and automated driving, international teams are also part of everyday life, meaning that German employees are also increasingly speaking English. However, everyday life in Germany involves many hurdles for employees from abroad. Engineer Saba Abdollahi says that she often feels insecure in public in Chemnitz and complains about the difficulties her family has in obtaining a visit visa. "That really stresses me out," says the 33-year-old. At the same time, her colleagues report massive problems in communicating with the immigration authorities.

Nationwide, the proportion of foreign employees is twice as high

"We urgently need a cultural change," warned Economics Minister Martin Dulig, who visited four companies on Thursday to find out about their experiences with international skilled workers. Saxony is dependent on immigration in order to meet its demand for labour. This involves people with their own needs, for whom life must be made easier. This is not just a task for companies, but for society as a whole. The SPD politician sees a "180-degree change" in many public authorities. For example, it should be considered whether a centralised foreigners authority for Saxony could better meet the requirements than the current municipal structure.

The proportion of employees from abroad has been growing steadily for years and has more than quadrupled to 7.4 per cent in Saxony since 2013. According to figures from the Federal Employment Agency, almost 123,200 people with a foreign passport were recently employed and subject to social security contributions. Most of them come from the neighbouring countries of Poland and the Czech Republic, followed by Romania, Syria, Ukraine, Vietnam, Russia, India and Afghanistan.

Experts see room for improvement: Nationwide, the proportion is around twice as high. According to the figures, there will be a shortage of around 176,000 people of working age in Saxony by 2030 because more employees are retiring than young people are entering the labour market.

"We need an influx of labour and skilled workers, because companies in Saxony are desperately looking for staff," says Klaus-Peter Hansen, head of the BA regional directorate. Saxony is competing with other regions in Germany and Europe for bright minds and well-trained specialists. "And these people don't just decide on a place to work, but first and foremost on a good place to live for themselves and their families. That's why we need a genuine welcoming culture."