Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing on Sunday warned that recent electoral victories by far-right parties could chill foreign investment and “undermine Germany’s ability to attract the skilled workers our economy desperately needs.” Speaking to Reuters, Sewing said global clients have begun asking whether Germany is still an open destination for talent after the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won regional votes in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia last month. The AfD has pledged to tighten asylum rules, limit work visas and repatriate rejected applicants—policies that contradict Berlin’s new Skilled Immigration Act designed to ease labour shortages in IT, engineering and healthcare. Investors fear a policy tug-of-war that could see visa processes slowed or reversed at the state level, complicating the relocation of key staff to production hubs in the east. Multinational corporations headquartered in Frankfurt and Munich tell Global Mobility News they are modelling “political-risk scenarios” for 2027–28 expansions. One auto supplier with 4,000 foreign employees said a perception that Germany is “closing its doors” could push future battery-plant investments to Poland or Spain, where immigration rhetoric is less volatile. HR teams are also concerned about family-reunification visas, a critical benefit for long-term assignments. Experts advise employers to double-check local integration programmes and to communicate Germany’s federal commitment to welcoming qualified workers, which remains unchanged at the national level. “Companies that emphasise inclusive workplace culture and provide clear relocation support will still win the global talent race—regardless of political noise,” notes Dr Clara Freitag of the Institute for Labour Economics.
Source: Reuters (via Yahoo News)
