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‘Careerism has left a society in discontent’

The endless push to be something greater, somewhat better, someone with more power, has gone too far, leaving a Swedish society full of discontented young adults, Andreas Jonsson argues.

Published: 9 November 2011 11:36 CET
'Careerism has left a society in discontent'

If you are under forty you should not be happy to work for a normal employer and have a normal job. The title on your business card has become more important than what you actually do.

Several weeks ago I ran into an acquaintance on my way home from my new workplace. The conversation quickly turned to how life was ticking along – and of course: “what are you working with these days?”

A couple of weeks previously I had begun working as a secretary and assistant, a part-time job in central Stockholm. When I happily spoke about my life I was met by a troubled look and the words – “yes, well, in the short-time I guess it is okay”.

I was happy about my new job. I find it very hard to see what, how and why it wouldn’t be okay to work as a secretary. This endless push to constantly strive to be something greater, somewhat better, someone with more power, has gone too far.

We have ended up with a society where young adults like myself should never be satisfied and the prevailing atmosphere forces us into different societal groups.

Since when should you not be satisfied with working at (supermarket chain) ICA? Since when is it not sufficiently acceptable to have H&M as your employer? It is a painful truth and unfortunately the snowball only seems to be halfway down the hill.

The demands are increasing exponentially. It is getting harder and harder to get the education which can perhaps pave the way to a job.

Naturally, I don’t think that you should either skip your education, scale it down or take it less seriously. Absolutely not. Drive on, study intensively and be proud of yourself. It is fantastic to study.

The thing is it is not only those who study who are the clever ones. Those who study don’t own the patent on praise and status symbols. There are a large number of examples of great men and women who did not follow the traditional path, who don’t have a load of university credits and a student loan debt as proof that they can do something.

Somewhere inside me there is a voice echoing the expression “the good old days”. I don’t know if there was, but one thing is certain – my parents did not experience the same frenzy to continue studying, push for salary hikes and carrier progression. The generation I belong to is exposed to an extreme amount of pressure.

I want to encourage you to follow your own path. To buck the trend. It is time for an upgrade. It is time to address the problem. It is time for us to realize that it is okay to be satisfied when you are 25-years-old. Be satisfied! Be content if you want to be content!

Stay at ICA and stack milk, kiwi fruit and bread if it makes you happy. Don’t let anyone boss you about. Don’t let anyone else decide whether you can be content, just because.

Andreas Jonsson is 28-years-old, lives in Stockholm and works two jobs – he runs his own company and writes about development possibilities for young people.

This article was originally published in Swedish on the Newsmill opinion website. English translation by The Local

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Which regions in Germany need foreign engineers?

Germany’s worker shortage is hitting the engineering sector hard, and there are huge differences in worker shortages between the regions. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) is calling for Germany to be more welcoming to foreign engineers in order to fill the gaps.

Published: 12 May 2023 15:52 CEST
Which regions in Germany need foreign engineers?

What’s going on?

Germany is currently facing a worsening shortage of skilled workers, with employers struggling to fill around 630,000 job vacancies in various industries. The engineering sector is particularly affected and saw a 21.6 percent increase in vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

According to the latest figures from the Association of German Enginners (VDI), there are currently 170,300 vacancies for engineers.

READ ALSO: ‘600,000 vacancies’: Why Germany’s skilled worker shortage is greater than ever

There’s a particular shortage of civil engineers, computer scientists and electrical engineers which is leading to hold-ups in public construction and digitalisation projects.

Which regions are particularly struggling?

Though there are shortages everywhere, there is a widening gap between the numbers of foreign engineers in large cities and those in rural areas.

In Munich, for example, foreign nationals make up almost 13 percent of the total number of engineers. In the Stranberg district of the city, more than one in four engineers are foreigners.

The employment of foreigners in engineering professions is highest in Berlin where they make up 18.6 percent of engineers, followed by Hamburg with 13.3 per cent and Bavaria with 12.7 per cent. Schleswig-Holstein has the lowest proportion of foreigners out of the western German states with a share of 4.9 per cent.

Employees of the Tesla Gigafactory Berlin Brandenburg work on a production line of a Model Y electric vehicle. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Patrick Pleul

In eastern states like Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt, foreign engineers are few and far between, despite being desperately needed.

There are also differences between the states in terms of the types of engineers needed. For example, in the last quarter of 2022, the total number of vacancies in information technology jobs in Hesse increased by 49.7 per cent, in Baden-Württemberg by 45.2 per cent and in Berlin/Brandenburg by 40.1 per cent, while the number in Rhineland-Palatinate/Saarland decreased by 23.5 per cent.

READ ALSO: Germany sees ‘over 550 percent increase’ in Indian IT workers over decade

The demand for civil engineering jobs, however, decreased significantly in Berlin/Brandenburg (-3.8 per cent), Saxony (-7.7 per cent) and Saxony-Anhalt/Thuringia (-7.8 per cent).

According to the VDI, the huge differences in the proportion of foreign engineers mainly depend on which universities and companies there are in the region.

If there are technical universities with lots of foreign students, this increases the proportion of engineers with foreign passports in the region.

The presence of factories or international corporations has a similar effect. For example, the proportion of foreign engineers in the Oder-Spree district in Brandenburg was stuck at two to three percent for a long time. But at the end of 2020, that figure tripled within a few months – thanks to the car manufacturer Tesla opening a factory there.

Germany needs to be “more welcoming” to foreigners

Head of the VDI, Dieter Westerkamp has said that without a strong influx of foreign skilled workers, Germany will not be able to close the gap in the labour market for engineers and that this could ultimately slow down Germany’s economic development.

READ ALSO: IN DEPTH: Are Germany’s immigration offices making international residents feel unwelcome?

The VDI is now calling for Germany to make itself more attractive to foreign engineers. The German government recently published a new draft law which aims to plug its skills gap by adapting its immigration laws. Amongst other things, the proposals aim to loosen the requirements for Blue Card applicants and to bring in a points-based job seekers visa. 

However, Westerkamp complains that some immigrants wait months for a visa appointment at the German embassy and that staff shortages at the foreigners’ offices lead to delays.

A recent study by the Bertelsmann Foundation’s Skilled Migration Monitor also found that managers increasingly complain about bureaucratic and legal hurdles as well as difficulties in the recognition of qualifications for foreign workers. 

Westerkamp said that Germans must understand that their standard of living can’t be maintained without more immigration and said that, people must “give foreigners the feeling that they are welcome in this country”. 

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