German Companies Say Refugees Unqualified to Work in Germany
Top Germany companies must provide an explanation to Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday why only managed to hire fewer than 100 refugees after around a million arrived in Germany in 2015 Reuters reported.
Merkel has summoned the CEOs of some of Germany's largest companies to Germany's seat of power, Berlin, to account for their seemingly tepid action in working with immigration policy and also hopefully exchange ideas about both can work better together.
Reuters reported that many of the companies state that the refugees a lack functional grasp of the German-language. They are also unable their professional qualifications. In addition, there is great uncertainty about their legal permission to work and live in Germany.
Chancellor Merkel, is fighting tooth and nail for her political legacy and party after her open-door immigration policy has been met with a storm of criticism.
A survey by Reuters of the 30 companies in Germany's DAX stock market index found they could point to just 63 refugee hires in total. Several of the 26 firms who responded said they considered it discriminatory to ask about applicants' migration history, so they did not know whether they employed refugees or how many.
Of the 63 hires, 50 are employed by Deutsche Post DHL, which said it applied a "pragmatic approach" and deployed the refugees to sort and deliver letters and parcels.
"Given that around 80 percent of asylum seekers are not highly qualified and may not yet have a high level of German proficiency, we have primarily offered jobs that do not require technical skills or a considerable amount of interaction in German," a spokesman said by email.
Reuters opined that what is clear is that early optimism that the wave of migrants could boost economic growth and help ease a skills shortage in Germany - where the working-age population is projected to shrink by 6 million people by 2030 - is evaporating.
"The employment of refugees is no solution for the skills shortage," industrial group Thyssenkrupp's Chief Executive Heinrich Hiesinger said during a visit by the German president earlier this month.