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Boisterous Westerwelle still shedding popularity

German Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle’s fiery rhetoric over welfare has failed to turn around his slide in popularity, with a poll released Wednesday showing the approval rating of his Free Democrats (FDP) sinking to 7 percent.

Boisterous Westerwelle still shedding popularity
Photo: DPA

The dismal result comes amid grumbling within Westerwelle’s own party about his performance and suggestions that a poor result in an upcoming state election could even be a death knell for his leadership.

The poll published by Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL revealed Westerwelle’s pro-business FDP had shed a further point even after dropping steadily for weeks.

That means the party has lost half the 14.6 percent support it enjoyed during its triumphant performance in the federal election last September.

Westerwelle, dogged by weeks of criticism that his party had been ineffective in pushing its tax-cutting agenda as junior coalition party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, has gone on the offensive in recent days, attacking Germany’s welfare system and accusing his critics of acting like socialists.

Westerwelle said he was unconcerned by fluctuating poll results, which he said were a normal part of the political cycle.

“I’m now in my ninth year as party leader. We’ve gained in every federal election since then,” Westerwelle told the Passauer Neue Presse. “Election results matter. That counts.”

But one senior party member has told news magazine Der Spiegel that if the party bombed in the May 9 state election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Westerwelle’s position would be under threat.

“The party has always enjoyed success with Westerwelle. But he’s not an enduringly unifying figure,” said one leading member of the party. “It it goes badly for the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia, we’ll have a debate about personnel.”

That would mean a discussion about separating the roles of vice chancellor and foreign minister from the position of party leader. Traditionally, those two jobs in the government go to the leader of the junior coalition party.

Merkel’s CDU picked up a point to move up to 35 percent and the opposition Social Democrats remained unchanged on 22 percent for the third week running.

The Greens are still on their record high of 17 percent while the socialist Left party gained a point to sit on 12 percent. Miscellaneous parties lost a point between them to hold 7 percent.

That means if an election were held tomorrow, a coalition of the SPD, Greens and Left could easily defeat a centre-right alliance between the CDU and the FDP.

The poll was conducted by Forsa surveying firm last week, which means the results were at least partly affected by the quarrelsome debate over welfare, which kicked off last Tuesday after the Constitutional Court ruled that the Hartz IV system of unemployment benefits were unconstitutional.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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