Where does Germany stand at the end of the decade? – Business

An old saying could be modified, the future lies in the eye of the beholder. If you ask four top-class representatives in their field how things will go in the twenties of the 21st century, the different points of view are clearly recognizable. Where the banker Wolfgang Fink sees challenges, for example in the tensions between the power blocs USA and China, Sophie Boissard, head of the care group Korian, asks herself whether one is sufficiently prepared for more and more old people who need care. Economics professor and Ifo boss Clemens Fuest complains that politicians have done too little to get the pandemic under control. Astrophysicist and astronaut trainee Suzanna Randall, on the other hand, sees her mission above all in getting girls and women enthusiastic about the natural sciences.

All different, but important topics, but there are also similarities. First of all, of course, the pandemic. This slows both Randall’s ambitions to do research on the ISS and the global economy. And it’s Boissard’s main concern: “The new wave is very exhausting,” she says. Those who do not allow themselves to be immunized will become infected sooner or later, “there is no other choice”. Economics expert Fuest had expected and probably also a little hoped that more people would have been vaccinated. Politicians, he demands, must now do everything possible to bring the level of infections back down: “2G or 2G plus would be important from an economic point of view.”

Banker Fink, Head of Europe at Goldman Sachs, sees major catch-up effects despite the recent wave of pandemics. He is not worried about the future of German (car) companies. After all, they have a lot of specific know-how. That, however, has to be so much in the future, should now urgently be digitized. The fact that a lot is being invested, more than 150 billion euros in the automotive industry alone, makes him confident: “The signs are encouraging.” Start-ups in Europe are also getting more and more money from investors. “You shouldn’t underestimate the speed at which it happens.” Fink sees a problem with the shortage of skilled workers.

This is like a cue for the future astronaut. She also often talks to children: “It’s crazy what kind of role clichés still exist”. And that already in kindergarten and elementary school: “A seven-year-old girl asked me whether I had any disadvantages because I was a woman.” Like many women on corporate boards, Randall finds it difficult to be the only woman often. But it’s not just about that, because more balanced teams would simply work better together. And: A lot of research is being done on the human body in space – but that shouldn’t only be done on men, because female bodies are different.

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Sophie Boissard, the head of the care company, also fears a shortage of skilled workers. The demographic development makes it clear that your industry is one with a future. But “we don’t train enough nurses”. So how do you attract more people to this demanding job? With more money? Not only, says Boissard, what counts above all is “real lasting appreciation”. So, one might add, more than a couple of claps on the balconies. Boissard also hopes for more digitization. This could make it possible to care for seniors at home for longer, and it could make routine jobs such as documentation easier for carers.

Did Corona actually help? After all, some things had to go digital quickly so that business could continue at all. The epidemic was certainly “a trend booster”, says banker Fink. Some corporations, whose ratings are consistently much lower than those of competing companies, would have to think about why that could be.

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And maybe set new goals. It doesn’t have to be the moon or Mars. Suzanna Randall would of course disagree. “We just have to go there,” that is human nature. But it also has one condition: “Only with a return ticket.”