[AdrianB1]

The article is low quality. It talks a bit about the problem, not about the cause and it does not help anyone.

The example at the beginning seems to be a now classic "I have a degree in an area where supply greatly exceeds demand". There is demand, there is supply, but there is a misalignment of qualifications and interests. If "well-qualified people" means fresh graduates in domains with low demand, then the qualification does not matter. In areas like constructions and handymen there is a serious shortage, if not a crisis, in the entire Western Europe. There are jobs, but not the ones most people want.

Too many people go to universities for a degree without checking if there is demand for these degree. Many that I know go to universities just to have a degree, they don't even care what is the domain. I have a childhood friend that is regularly unemployed, he is a historian, but he does not like working in archeological sites and there is not enough need for historians. At the same time we cannot find enough people for construction works, it is hard work and most people don't want it (diversity and equality does not work in such jobs, never did).

[Escapado]

> Too many people go to universities for a degree without checking if there is demand for these degree.

I agree for certain fields such as your example but until recently software engineers were in disproportional demand and that has changed pretty dramatically in less time than one would need to get a degree in the field.

Edit: And the example of people working in construction: I know a few. Their companies are booked out for the next 2 years. They, however have shitty pay and disproportionately many work-caused health problems. The owners of those companies are having a good time though.

[joe_mamba]

>They, however have shitty pay

A 24 year old friend works construction, building and restoring facades and such. Makes 70-80k Euros/year with his own schwarzgeld overtime outside of work. It's on par with a senior SW engineer with 10YOE here. Hard work indeed, but not poorly paid.

It's only poorly paid for unskilled positions in construction that are basically human carrying robots who haven't yet been automated.

[noosphr]

>There are jobs, but not the ones most people want.

There is no such thing as a shortage in labor markets. There is just people not willing to pay the correct price.

[skirge]

I come from Eastern Europe. Teachers used to tell us that we had to go to university if we wanted to have an easier life later on.

[AdrianB1]

Same for me; but what they did not tell, because it was not needed at that time, is that not everyone is capable of going to an university, the admission was tough and the school was hard, so people were filtered by capabilities. 20 years later universities doubled the number of students as they made it a business first, not education first, so we got too many people with worthless diploma and no qualifications and no potential.

[nephihaha]

We all got told this. The trouble is that it isn't always true. A good STEM degree could do, but so many others don't. Now we're seeing the slow death of some of the professions, and it's started with accountancy.

[oytis]

I dunno man, people are complaining about not being able to secure a vocational training position, especially as a foreigner. Maybe a bit of diversity and equality could help

[nephihaha]

A friend of mine went to Berlin to learn German. She's Spanish of Moroccan Berber origin... She said she encountered barely any native speakers, and many people tried to speak English to her instead. She ended up quitting as a result. I was in part of suburban Frankfurt am Main and had a similar experience. So depending on where you are, there is plenty of diversity. Like most larger European cities, Frankfurt and Berlin now lack sense of place while having a sense of anomie.

[dgellow]

Berlin and Frankfurt are the most international places in Germany. It’s like going to Zurich and Geneva and saying that people speak English. If you step outside of those 2 places you will face german more often.

Though I really doubt your anecdotes, I lived in Berlin for years as a non-German speaker, you have a lot of native speakers all around, you often do not notice when you’re not integrated but once you start following native Germans they bring you to groups and places where the language is way more common.

[nephihaha]

"International" is one way to put it, "anomie" is another. You could be anywhere and they're not better for it. My home town is going the same way. Lots of atomised individuals and less connection and bland architecture.

Last time I was in Berlin, I had to pretend to be Finnish to avoid speaking English and practice my German. That guy was a native German speaker. But I came across plenty of people who did not speak good German but were local residents. So I don't disbelieve her. I spent time in Dresden years ago, and it was easy for me to find Germans to speak with (nowadays, I think that may be different as youngsters are all drilled in American English.) Sächsisch is a somewhat strange accent, but at least it is a native dialect. I already know someone else's broken German, I'm not trying to learn their broken German.

I think the time to be in Berlin was the eighties and nineties. Even 1980s era East Berlin appears to have had some appeal (according to East Germans I've interacted with, despite issues with the Stasi.) Outside of the touristy parts, the modern suburbs are fast evolving into just another global city with non-descript glass and steel cylinders filled with junk food outlets and Air BnB. (Not that East German era architecture is that distinctive either.)

Another trick I've learnt sometimes is to drop into a broad Scottish accent so they cannot understand what I am saying in English. But my German is extremely rusty nowadays.

[oytis]

> she encountered barely any native speakers, and many people tried to speak English to her instead

Germans often switch to English when they hear an accent or hesitation

[dgellow]

I can confirm, that does make it pretty hard to learn if you’re in a large city where people generally speak fluent English

[nephihaha]

As I say above, I've used various tricks. Pretending to be Finnish. Putting on a very strong Scottish accent when they speak English to me. All that kind of thing.

[oytis]

You just continue speaking German to them until they give up.

[nephihaha]

I know they do and if you're trying to learn German, it's not great. But foreign residents in Germany often default to English when dealing with each other.

[oytis]

Depends on background I think. Educated foreigners will default to English, worker class would most likely speak German

[nephihaha]

Plenty of foreign workers default to broken English I notice, even among each other (if their native languages are different). This situation occurs more frequently in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands.

[slaw]

Migrants to Germany account for 30.2% of the total population.

Is Germany not enough diverse for you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Germany

[oytis]

Yes, sorry, there is a lot of diversity of course, especially on the lower level. It's rather equality and inclusion that need improving.

It's an anecdotal evidence, but while looking for a job I liked looking up employees on linkedin, then looking up the leadership on company's website. First one would always be much more diverse than the second one

[slaw]

You didn't notice older people are Germans and younger migrants?

[scihuber]

The Germans themselves chose not to have children.

[AdrianB1]

I think they were pushed not to have children, if that matters. Pushed via economical measures that made it very hard and pushed via education/indoctrination that kids are bad in multiple ways.

My grandparents had many brothers and sisters each and life was harder back then, but it was easier to raise a large family than today. What changed? Taxes, with direct and indirect effects.

[dgellow]

Wait until you learn you can be German and not look like the Bavarian stereotypes

[dgellow]

From your own link 30% is the widest definition possible:

> As of 2024, around 17.4 million people living in Germany, or 20.9% of the population, are first-generation immigrants, while the population with a migrant background in the wider sense stood at approximately 25.2 million, accounting for 30.2% of the total population of 83.5 million

Thats a very misleading statistic

[oytis]

"Migrant background" is really broad indeed, it takes just one parent who wasn't born with a German parent to be considered as having a "background". Also most of them are EU migrants

[oytis]

who wasn't born with a German passport, sorry. So in worst case one immigrant grandparent is enough

[slaw]

What exactly is misleading to you?

[watwut]

> , he is a historian, but he does not like working in archeological sites

Most historians who work as historians dont work in archeological sites, so I dont see how that part is relevant.

> In areas like constructions and handymen there is a serious shortage, if not a crisis, in the entire Western Europe. There are jobs, but not the ones most people want.

Are salaries going up?

> it is hard work and most people don't want it (diversity and equality does not work in such jobs, never did)

Like, you mean, immigrants wont be accepted if they apply? Cause wherever I was, these low level jobs were exactly the jobs where immigrants went first - they would hire literally almost anyone as they were not picky on language knowledge, cultural knowledge or even skills. All they asked for was time and ability to accept low salary with not too great conditions.

But, if they wont accept immigrants on principle, the inability to find workers is their own problem. Native Germans has obviously more options.

[croes]

And what happens with high demand and low supply?

Strangely the wages don’t rise as one would expect.

And companies are picky, they want a perfect fit for their position including the work processes and programs.

Delusional.

[AdrianB1]

Are you sure the wages don't rise in high demand, low supply areas? We all just read the 7 figure salaries for people in AI stolen from one big company to another, what is that?

Yes, companies are picky, but it is slowly changing. They cannot afford to be picky anymore, but change takes time.

[croes]

Health care and construction have high demand but the wages raises aren’t that high, sometimes even lower than inflation

[AdrianB1]

In my part of Europe doctors are paid extremely well. Construction workers also earn quite well given the lack of qualification required, a highway worker earns more than a junior developer and even more than many mid-level developers. The raise in these 2 sectors are definitely above the IT sector for the past 10 years.