Demographic changes such as population decline, emigration and outflow of resources from rural areas and appropriate responses and counter-recipes were the central themes of the Economic Forum on Friday afternoon. It turned out that attractive education and good jobs alone are not enough. The speakers agreed quickly that the rural area for locals can only remain attractive when there is plenty of training opportunities, technical infrastructure and adequate jobs. However, the increasing staff shortage can only be met by immigrants from other countries. Especially in tourism and agriculture, but also in technical disciplines, the need for skilled workers is enormous. Migration researcher and EU commission consultant Rainer Münz said that without immigration, it will not work, but the people who are brought into the country must have qualifications. He pointed out, however, that it is difficult to lure qualified immigrants to Europe. “People with expertise – especially from Asia – go to the US in spite of the current US isolationist policy. They still believe in the American Dream. Unfortunately, there is no ‘European Dream…’ People do not come here to find happiness, but to benefit from the welfare system and to be able to send some money home,’ Münz said. The problems of the region can not be solved by more people, but by more qualifications. Therefore, those who come here should be “retrained”. More on pressetext.
