The 12 Demands of German business on migration
Posted by Thomas Klikauer
Globally, there were 304 million migrants in 2024, according to the United Nations. It is self-evident that there aren’t 300 million “Mexican rapists,” as Donald Trump once claimed. His own ancestors migrated from Germany. Nor are there 300 million criminals migrating from one country to another.
Meanwhile, there are not 300 million “social welfare tourists” coming to Germany, as Friedrich Merz suggests. Nor are there “swarms” of migrants, as Nigel Farage infamously described them in one of his many dehumanising hate speeches. Migrants are not insects. They are human beings.
Amusingly, Farage – from Arabic Faraj – himself has Huguenot ancestry. In fact, both parents of one of his great-grandfathers came from Germany. They immigrated to London from the Frankfurt area shortly after 1861.
Despite the mathematical impossibility of 300 million rapists or criminals migrating globally, migrants and refugees continue to be demonised, dehumanised, and victimised – by right-wing tabloids, racist echo chambers, xenophobic far-right politicians, right-wing populists, racist extremists, and outright neo-Nazis.
And yet, migration has a largely positive impact on the economy. Germany’s so-called postwar Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) from the 1950s to the 1970s would hardly have been possible without the recruitment of huge numbers of so-called “guest workers”.
Three of the world’s wealthiest countries – Australia, Canada, and the US – are fundamentally migrant nations. Without migration, these countries would not rank number 1, 8, and 11 on the global list of 158 countries by wealth.
While Germany’s neo-fascist AfD, adjacent “far right” echo chambers, filter bubbles, and conservative tabloids pound their anti-migration propaganda, the German capital and business knows reality.
One of Germany’s foremost lobbying institutions – the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW), or German Economic Institute – represents the voice of German capitalism.
Founded in 1951 by the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), which aims to fight regulation and unions, and the Federation of German Industries (BDI – the voice of German industry), which pushes capitalist interests, the IW is capitalism’s think tank.
Among its publications are IW Policy Papers. One of these – albeit from 2014 – focuses on migration and the economic value of migrants to Germany. This insight is not new.
After German capitalism was forced to abandon slave labour and the murderous “death through work” (Vernichtung durch Arbeit) program cynically branded Arbeit macht frei under the Nazi regime, post-Nazi German industry had to find another labour source. It still needed a constant supply of workers.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, millions of guest workers were brought in. As Wikipedia notes: “Insgesamt kamen von 1955 bis 1973 etwa 14 Millionen Gastarbeiter in die Bundesrepublik” – a total of about 14 million guest workers came to West Germany between 1955 and 1973.
To a large extent, these workers made the “economic miracle” possible. But it wasn’t a miracle it was the hard labour of these workers, in coal mines and on assembly lines, that fueled German growth. And the term “guest workers” is misleading: who makes their guests work? Only in Germany.
Culturally, Germany was transformed. Culinary embarrassments like Graupensuppe and the even more dubious Pumpernickel were gradually enriched – first by Pizza, then Gyros and Ražnjići, and later by Döner Kebab. Germany became a multicultural society.
Up until the mid-2010s, Germany steadily opened its doors to immigration. The number of newcomers increased substantially. While there was net emigration in 2009, by 2012 around 369,000 more people moved to Germany than left.
Many immigrants today come from Eastern and Southern European countries, where demographic shifts are also causing skilled labour shortages – just as they are in Germany. Employers now recommend that Germany do more to attract skilled workers. Immigration policy should be liberalised—not tightened.
The recognition of foreign qualifications should be improved, and Germany’s Willkommenskultur – its culture of welcoming migrants – should be revitalised. According to Germany’s employer federations – that recently demanded an annual intake of 400,000 migrants – there are twelve compelling reasons for increased immigration:
- Strengthens overall economic power
- Expands the skilled labour pool
- Facilitates international business activities
- Boosts innovation and economic growth
- Improves public finances through pension contributions
- Stabilises health and long-term care systems
- Lightens the burden on public budgets
- Helps prevent depopulation in towns and rural areas
- Balances demographic shifts and supports healthcare access
- Directly benefits the population
- Enhances prosperity and supports domestic workers
- Enriches Germany’s cultural life
In stark contrast to the scapegoating of migrants by right-wing populists, the IW – representing Germany’s two most powerful business organisations (BDI and BDA) – strongly advocates for increased migration. They push for the exact opposite of what Europe’s reactionary media and far-right movements want.
In other words, the voice of German capitalism – no bleeding-heart liberals, no idealists – supports a vision entirely different from that of Merz’s CDU hardliners or the AfD.
Put simply, Germany’s right-wing populists and its business class have completely divergent goals. Unsurprisingly, many German CEOs, business owners, and employer associations have spoken out against the AfD.
Unlike the AfD (which resents migrants), or CDU hardliners (who treat them as unwanted), or outright neo-Nazis (who dream of “remigration” and ethnic cleansing), Germany’s businesses want to attract skilled foreign workers – long-term. This is essential to sustain growth, prosperity, and quality of life.
To replicate the success of the 1950s–70s, Germany must re-open itself to immigration. Recent restrictions on immigration law go in the wrong direction.
Barriers remain, especially for non-EU specialists. Rather than demonising people, Germany must strengthen what once made it successful: a culture of welcome.
If people feel at home in Germany, they are more likely to come and stay – perhaps even in the more remote eastern regions where their presence is urgently needed.
Ironically, these very regions – often referred to as Dunkeldeutschland – are plagued by neo-Nazi violence. By failing to act decisively against neo-Nazis and the AfD, these areas make themselves unattractive to newcomers. Letting right-wing extremism fester harms local economies and societies.
In particular, these areas need a collective response – from the state, businesses, and civil society. Immigration authorities should take a service-oriented approach and offer extensive support to newcomers.
Companies should help foreign employees with their first steps in Germany and engage with their cultural backgrounds in day-to-day work.
And in a sharp rebuke to the AfD, German society must meet migrants with openness, integrating them swiftly into its social and cultural networks.
Photo: (source: https://deepai.org/machine-learning-model/text2img)
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