Far-right Threatens To Scare Off German Industry's New Talent

Dresden, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Mar, 2024) In its search for sorely needed talent, German chipmaker Infineon is looking as far as Guatemala, but the rise of the far-right at home risks making the move unappealing and harming the industry.

The semiconductor group has plans for a new five-billion-euro ($5.4-billion) factory in eastern Germany -- and it is not the only one.

Backed by huge government subsidies, US chipmaker Intel is planning a plant in the city of Magdeburg, while the Taiwanese giant TSMC will put down roots in Dresden.

For all the region's advantages -- a good position in the heart of Europe and an established industrial base -- its politics could yet be a drag.

In Saxony, which already hosts the biggest concentration of chipmakers in Europe, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is polling over 30 percent ahead of European and regional elections later this year.

Success for the AfD risks "holding back our growth potential", Frank Boesenberg, the head of regional industry lobby group "Silicon Saxony", told AFP.

According to the group's estimates, chipmakers in Saxony will have 25,000 jobs to fill by 2030, while the local working-age population will shrink by 300,000.

"There are too few young people in the region," said Boesenberg. "We need immigration."

However, the anti-immigration politics of the AfD could put off potential recruits and damage the industry.

"A policy of isolation is a threat to prosperity," Infineon's CEO Jochen Hanebeck warned on professional social network LinkedIn.