WOM - Weltoffen miteinander arbeiten in Thüringen

WOM - Weltoffen miteinander arbeiten in Thüringen. Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der personalpolitischen Zukunftsfähigkeit Thüringer Unternehmen.

(WOM - Working together in Thuringia. Policies to improve the outlook of Thuringian companies).

2019-2022
Silke Übelmesser, Tina Haußen, Patrick Bareinz
together with Sebastian HennExternal link, Jürgen BoltenExternal link and other

The economic situation of Thuringia is characterized by a continuously rising skill shortage. In order to overcome this, foreign skilled workers will become more and more important as endogenous labor-market potentials are mostly exhausted. This presents a large challenge given the increasing ressentiments against foreigners in the local population. Currently, about one third of Thuringians fears to be overwhelmed by immigrants despite the relatively small number of foreigners living in Thuringia. These negative feelings can be expected to hold vis-à-vis foreign skilled workers as well. The unresolved contradiction between the large demand for foreign skilled workers on the one hand and the ressentiments against them on the other hand might hurt the economic outlook of Thuringian companies in the medium- and long-term.

Against this background, the project aims at identifying the underlying reasons and at designingmeasures to overcome these ressentiments. This comprises (a) a detailed empirical analysis of the regional- and actor-specific attitudes and (b) concrete measures in and with Thuringian companies (introduction of onboarding-structures, intercultural diversity trainings, etc.), which will be accompanied by a media campaign.