Germany could be short 723,000 skilled workers by 2029, nearly double this year's gap, according to a new IW Köln study. Retail, vehicle technology, and electrical roles get hit hardest, and the report is blunt about something I say to clients constantly: immigration alone will not fix this. Companies still treating immigration as a last resort rather than a hiring strategy are going to feel this number very personally, very soon.

Meanwhile, Berlin is tightening entry rules for Russian nationals and closing the Russian consulate in Bonn on September 18, after formally attributing the August drone incident near Leipzig and Halle to Russia. If you have Russian nationals anywhere in your mobility pipeline, this is one to watch closely, not later.

This one will be a little longer than usual.

The election that has happened in Saxony-Anhalt has shaken the country. The far-right party, Alternative for Germany (Alternativ für Deutschland, AfD) has come in first by a landslide. They won almost 44% of the vote, gaining 23 percentage point from the last election in 2021. The CDU (right-conservative party) has lost almost 20 points and has fallen at about 17%.

The AfD has been formally classified as a "confirmed right-wing extremist organization" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, though a German court temporarily suspended the national designation pending a final ruling. Several individual states, including Saxony-Anhalt, still classify their regional AfD branches as extremist independently.

A bit of context to understand. Germany is a federal political system, divided into 16 regions. Each of the 16 regions, called the Länder, has its own government. For anyone less familiar with the country's history, these three regions are all part of the former East Germany. That history matters here.

As in other federal states, some policies are federal - such as immigration, Alhamdulillah - and some are local, like eduction, police or culture. Local policies do not directly change the direction of the federal government, but they take real measures that affect the lives of millions of Germans every day. They decide what schools teach, what children eat, what cultural events are hosted, and what local climate policies get implemented. We can only imagine what a far-right, extremist, climate-skeptic Nazi party will do to history curricula, or how it will treat children and staff of color, or those from the queer community.

The AfD has been gaining momentum in the former East German states over the last several years. Its party leaders - often from the West themselves - play on feelings of ostracization to point at "immigrants" as the ones responsible. If you ask me, that is the wrong culprit. The real problem is not immigration, it is Germany itself and how reunification was carried out. What I find a real shame is the loss of class consciousness that once united the working class against the ruling class, rather than white Germans against everyone else. What people now reproach "immigrants" for, a lack of assimilation, is exactly what was done to East Germans. The hypocrisy is glaring.

The AfD's 44% in Saxony-Anhalt still is not a majority, and they will need to find partners to form a coalition in order to implement their policies. I do not see how they would fail to find the support they need, but we will see how the next few months unfold.

There are two more elections coming up this weekend, in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will reverse the trend, but I would not bet money on it.

I have worked in the field of German immigration for almost a decade and I feel like I have learned a thing or two by now. I was lucky to get a really good training and after having relocated over 2,000 people I am confident that there are things I can share.

So, I have decided to launch a YouTube Channel! I want a place to share knowledge and make it accessible to as many people as possible. I thought that would be the best option, as it is already a widely known platform.

I am not a video editor though and have never been on camera. It's a learning curve and the first few videos are not perfect but as I always say, "better done than perfect!" I launched it on Saturday, so you can go have a look there - please be nice, as I am learning to get the hang of it. The first video is not the best and it took me a very long time. Hopefully, as time goes by I will get better at it! I am certainly enjoying it, so I'll take it as a win.

The Potsdam Review - if you are into German and European politics, consider subscribing to The Potsdam Review on Substack. Mac does a great job explaining what's going on and why it matters. Definitely very left-leaning, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

(in German) Der Osten: eine westdeutsche Erfindung: Wie die Konstruktion des Ostens unsere Gesellschaft spaltet - This book is about the place of East Germany in Germany and explains to a certain extent why the AfD is so powerful in the East. The main argument of the book is that the East was invented by the West and that Germany didn't go through a reunification, but an assimilation from the East. Definitely a tough read for those whose German is not their first language but I highly recommend it.

I am going to Berlin today and have a lot of people to see! Very excited about this and will report about my trip next time! Weather should be perfect and I am already excited about 2 things: eating a kebab and my trip to DM!

See you in the next one.

Charlotte

Check out my website, visit my YouTube Channel or say hello on LinkedIn 👋