Advertised positions in Thuringia often remain vacant for months. Business and government rely on skilled workers from abroad. Prime Minister Ramelow can imagine a project in which the Free State would be a pioneer.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) is planning a trip to Vietnam next year, which will primarily involve recruiting skilled workers for the Thuringian economy. The aim is to win significantly more people from Vietnam for training or a professional future in Thuringia, said Ramelow of the German Press Agency in Erfurt. "Vietnam is high on the agenda." The Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK) have already had good experiences with individual projects.
Ramelow had already campaigned for training in Thuringia in 2019 together with representatives of the economy in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, a number of training contracts were already being concluded.
Thuringia's economy complains that it is becoming increasingly difficult to fill vacancies for training and jobs - it often takes months to be hired or the advertisement is even unsuccessful.
Ramelow said he could imagine Thuringia starting a model project to recruit skilled workers in Vietnam in order to speed up the issuing of visas for Vietnamese citizens. "So far, visas have been issued at the German embassy in Vietnam. I am in talks with the Foreign Ministry to enable visas to be issued later in Thuringia." Thuringia would be a pioneer in such a model, which would relieve the embassy of a relatively large number of interested parties.
According to Ramelow, the recruitment and selection of job applicants with German language skills for Thuringia would have to be organized with a partner in Vietnam, but also preparing them for work far away from their homeland. There is also the idea of opening nursing schools together with hospitals in Vietnam for people who want to work as nurses in Thuringia.
Many people who have their roots in Vietnam already live in the Free State. Some of them were brought into the country from the GDR. But young people from the Asian country have also started training in the Free State in recent years - including in gastronomy.
"The shortage of skilled workers remains a stressful ongoing issue in many Thuringian companies," said Dieter Bauhaus, President of the Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) this week. The economy is also relying on workers from abroad and the amendment of the Skilled Immigration Act by the federal government. Every second Thuringian IHK company cannot fill vacancies in the long term, "the search is particularly difficult for jobs for professionally qualified people," said Bauhaus.
