Mayor Burkhard Jung:
"Immigration can prove a benefit. It is not necessarily a benefit in itself – it is up to us to create the right framework conditions. In addition to providing immigrants with the right language skills, it is the employment market which we need to adjust to the new situation. In most countries of this world the concept of the qualification certificate after completing an apprenticeship is unknown. Integration must not involve us turning our backs on this successful system, but on the other hand we do need to make it more flexible and accessible.
Integration will fail if we are unable to offer people economic prospects. Those who come to the realisation that – in spite of their talents and hard work – they will never be more than unskilled labourers will respond with resignation. However, work as unskilled labourers can provide many immigrants with the initial access to the employment market. In Leipzig there are currently approximately 3,700 registered vacancies (compared to 1,800 in 2009), a large part of them in industry, logistics and catering.
Those who now insist on rigid compliance with the applicable formalities will close the doors to the majority of the population, which by the way also includes many German citizens. If on the other hand we succeed in finding new forms of access to the employment market which at the same time provide opportunities for acquiring qualifications, this will help everyone involved – the employers just as much as foreign and German jobseekers."