N3 Engine Overhaul Services - that's the name of the company in the small town of Arnstadt in Thuringia, which is responsible for the technical maintenance of the aircraft engines of more than 50 airlines. Employees repair engines on large machines such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing Dreamliner. Business is booming: the subsidiary of Lufthansa and Rolls Royce will invest another 150 million euros to expand its operations and henceforth service 250 engines a year. This is a story of success on an international scale, General Director Štefan Landes told DV.
„We are a company that connects and unites different people and cultures. They work together on this great product and it's part of our DNA. It is a misconception that we can only do this with our own resources. Without good impulses from other companies, from other cultural circles, we wouldn't have been able to reach the place we are today," adds Landes.
A future without migration will hit business hard
N3 has 1,100 employees from 25 nationalities - among them TJ from the Philippines, Luis from Chile and Yut from Thailand. All three are satisfied with the conditions, the team spirit and the chance that opened before them.
How do they view the results of the “Alternative for Germany" (AzG), who recently won the local elections in the province? “I am a little worried, but I am not afraid. Parties should not use stereotypes and put all immigrants in one bucket. We have come to a promising company where we can make our contribution and do something good not only for it, but also for Germany," says Utt.
And while people from all over the world work in this forward-looking and global company, the first place in the vote in the province is the AzG with its local leader Björn Höcke, who wants to take Germany back to the past. He envisions a future without migrants—i.e. with 20-30% fewer people. “We are dependent on attracting skilled labor, for example from Asia. The success of N3 would not have been possible without foreign specialists. A politics that builds walls and works for isolation would ruin us. Anyone who wants to cause major upheavals to companies open to the world, like Mr Hoecke, has a poor idea of how economic policy works," says Stefan Landes.
According to research by the Ifo institute, 42.1% of East German companies say their business suffers from a labor shortage. It's not just the economy - healthcare is struggling with the same problem. In Thuringia, every fourth doctor in a hospital comes from abroad - most from Syria, Romania and Ukraine. One of them is cardiologist Anas Yano from Syria, who works in the city of Jena. He says that AzG's victory has alarmed his colleagues.
„Doctors are trying to integrate into the health system here, but the road is very long and includes the command of the German language. Sometimes you feel that even that is not enough to be treated equally, that origin and skin color still play a role. And when you talk to other colleagues and hear these stories, you naturally wonder whether you should come here to Thuringia at all."
More and more immigrants worry about the future
The problem is not only that not enough foreign personnel are coming. And that those who have reached Thuringia do not stay - more than half of those who immigrate to the province spend less than two years there. According to a study by the German Center for the Study of Integration and Migration (DEZIM), every fourth resident of the Federal Republic with foreign roots is at least hypothetically considering whether to leave it. “All my colleagues watch the news and want to know where we are going. Many say that if Mr. Hoeke comes to power, I will not be able to raise my children here. One chief physician moved this year precisely because of this. Many other colleagues are considering whether to stay at all," says cardiologist Samer Matar.
But not only aeronautical engineers, IT specialists and doctors with foreign roots are important for Thuringia. Orina from Ukraine and Mohamed from Somalia work in the bakery in Weimar. “Nowhere have I felt as good as in the bakery. It's incomparable to the warehouse I used to work in. Everything revolved around money there. Here, people don't look at how you look, but what you do and how you work," he says.
Orina says that she feels like a big family here. As part of a pilot project, the bakery will be assisted in overcoming bureaucratic obstacles when hiring people of foreign origin. Creator Sebastian Luke says he no longer even counts how many nationalities are represented among his employees: “We also hire people like Orina who can only speak English. People can come to us who would probably not be able to apply elsewhere. When there is a shortage of skilled labor, we must make sure that enough immigrants come, including those with the necessary qualifications."
Xenophobia is growing
According to a recent survey, every third resident of Thuringia is against attracting foreign workers. Every fifth person has far-right views. This is also visible on the street.
„This morning a person at the bus stop said to me: „You will be leaving soon!". People stare at you and become more aggressive,'' says Bulganchimek Nyama, who is from Mongolia and works for the organization MigraNetz. For MigraNetz, which unites 60 migrant organizations in the province, this means even more work and trainings against discrimination. But a right-wing government in power - not only of the “Alternative for Germany", but also of the CDU/CSU - could lead to a drastic reduction in their budget, the organization worries.