It’s sometimes a very rewarding role to stand on the sidelines, commenting and evaluating what other people are up to. Andrea Nahles, head of the Federal Employment Agency, could easily slip into this role. She could judge whether the federal government’s compromise on citizen income is good. And there is hardly anyone who would be a more competent commentator on this topic outside of the current political scene than the former SPD chairwoman. After all, she is regarded as a co-inventor of the citizen’s allowance, which will replace Hartz IV from January and which was decided upon after a tough struggle at the beginning of this week.
But Andrea Nahles presented during the economic summit Süddeutsche Zeitung in Berlin: “I don’t see myself in a commentator role.” She had “not the slightest doubt” about an agreement on citizen income. She had been in politics for too long for that.
But Nahles does let it be known that she considers many of the issues surrounding citizen income to be far less relevant to everyday life in the employment agency than many politicians. sanctions? “I welcome that they exist because it is important that there is a commitment.” However, one should not forget that sanctions were only imposed in three percent of all cases. The question of how much money you have to spare and how high it should be does not play a role for most job seekers, says Nahles.
Less bureaucracy, also in the language
But in all the political debates, as Nahles quickly learned as head of the employment agency, one thing applies above all in her agency: “Just because a law changes, people don’t change.” And for the people – or “customers,” as Nahles calls them – who look after the 115,000 employees at the employment agency, the former SPD chair sees improvements from the new legislation.
For example, the elimination of the mediation priority. This means that not every unemployed person will necessarily have to be placed directly in a new job, but can first be further qualified if this gives them prospects of a better job. “We have to invest in basic skills,” says Nahles – and admits that there is still some homework to be done in her agency. For example, the language in the letters that are sent to job seekers. They are formulated so incomprehensibly in official German that it is “no wonder” if people can’t do anything with them.
In general, according to the BA boss, the concerns on the German labor market are less about whether the unemployment rate can be pushed to an even more historic low, and more about how to find enough skilled workers for the many vacancies. When it comes to this question, Andrea Nahles says clearly: “Without the wave of refugees, we would have an even bigger problem with skilled workers.” However, the situation today must be differentiated from that of 2015. At that time, the difficult recognition procedures were often an “adventure parkour”. As a result, many people could not be placed in jobs.
Politicians have learned from these mistakes that the placement of war refugees from Ukraine – 74 percent of them are women – is much easier than that of refugees from Syria or Afghanistan. Simply because there are far fewer bureaucratic hurdles. “The biggest obstacle is the language,” says Nahles. Although many Ukrainian women are very well qualified, they often lack a good knowledge of English – but also childcare solutions.