Eastern representative worried
Thousands of young people are leaving new federal states
October 2, 2024, 9:51 a.m
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More young adults leave eastern Germany and work in the old federal states than is the case the other way around. This is a cause for concern for Carsten Schneider, the Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner. The problem of unfilled jobs is exacerbated by another factor.
Last year, more young people moved from the eastern German states to the West than the other way around. This worries the Federal Government’s Eastern Commissioner, Carsten Schneider. He sees “opportunities on his own doorstep” that 18 to 29 year olds should take advantage of. “There are now well-paid jobs in East Germany, you no longer have to leave,” said the SPD politician Editorial Network Germany (RND).
“We are missing the millions of people who left East Germany after reunification and contributed to growth in the West today,” said Schneider. “After reunification, it was clear to East German young people that anyone who had finished school and was looking for a training position or a job had to go to the West.” But that is now “no longer necessary”. The Eastern Commissioner sees a major problem in the new federal states: “The lack of jobs has now become a shortage of workers.”
The day before, the Federal Statistical Office published figures from 2023, according to which 7,100 more young adults had emigrated than immigrated. This trend has been going on since 1991: During the entire period, almost 1.2 million 18 to 29 year olds moved away. This means that 727,000 more people left the East than enriched it.
However, the Federal Statistical Office sees immigration from abroad as having a greater influence on population development. Last year, 517,000 immigrants settled in the west, but there were comparatively few in the east: only 97,000 foreigners came to Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt as well as Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.