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Phoenixpower -> RE: Violence As Workers Protest Against Cuts (3/27/2011 1:00:26 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Edwynn
I know that ~7% unemployment even before the financial crisis was not exactly a good number, but it takes a long time to absorb a ~16 millionen einwohner former communist region all at once, no? Nach der Wiedervereinigung. I'm not sure if any other country could have accomplished that without even much further damage.
As for the "well trained" comment, I was going by the graduates of die Realschule oder Hauptschule as much as I was das Gymnasium und die Hochschule/Universität. Even at the lesser amount of schooling the people put into the work force are at least well trained, unlike in the US where the attitude is "well, you were supposed to go to college, and if you're not doing that, then we don't know what of anything good to help you out otherwise, sorry." I'm exaggerating slightly, there are a few decent tech programs at a few high schools, but the overall picture is quite dim for high school-only graduates, not just in terms of status of diploma, but in actual preparedness for much of anything. No wonder that one HAS to get a college degree here to get paid beyond poverty wages.
But my actual point was that there are a number of different ways to operate a country, and Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, France, etc. all do OK for themselves, and are not sliding into the abyss that some here in the US think we would automatically be going into if we did something so responsible as to actually enforce taxes on the top .01% of earners here, or have usable health care, etc. They are not all just different than the US or UK, they are quite different from each other in their selection of priorities and policies, and the mode of implementation of all that.
Yep the reunion was quite an event...and the east has a fair bit of a problem with the fact that many young folks moved to the west...
The difference in Germany is that you do have to undergo a proper apprenticeship for most jobs and when you finish school aged 15 after Hauptschule or aged 16 after Realschule, if you didnt get an apprenticeship then you are going to continue to go to school such as a technical school or one which prepares your for care work jobs as sort of access course to then get into the actual apprentice ship until you are 18 as you have to go to school until you are 18 either via just school or via apprenticeship.
I had an appointment with the jobcentre at my 17th birthday, when I cancelled their offered appointment as I had my apprenticeship to work within the court system already, they demanded to see it in writing...so they don't let you easily get off that hook.
Also as you undergo 2-4 year lasting apprenticeships many people remain in that job the rest of their lifes as you get low paid during your apprenticehip and of course as older you get as harder it is to be able to afford to live on that low payment of apprenticeships. That then means that you get trained from staff who do the job you are getting trained in since 10+ years and know their job inside and outside and know what they are doing which then again you pass on to the next generation. And that IMO is part of the reason they get well trained as we dont have a system where you can work for a bank one day, the next day your work at the post office and the next week you then work with disabled adults in a care home...it just doesn't work like that back home.
A Manager I know from here in the UK would love to move to Germany as he inherited a flat or a house over there and realised that he won't get anywhere unless he does a proper apprenticeship from at least 3 years (presumably he wouldnt have to do the practical year with his work experience over here hence why only three years and not four). He was quite shocked to realise that his so great manager post quite frankly didnt impress anyone back home as he cant show his knowledge about human growth and development, psychology, sociology, didactic and methodology, managerial theories etc as he never had to learn them over here to get into his post in the first place. Back home you do that four year course and then you can work in a manager post or a normal staff level post within that profession...not like some managers I know who convince over here that they could manage people with not even having completed a probation period and havent any clue at all about managing a team let alone people in a single situation...
And so yes, back home I don't need a uni degree to earn decent money, back home to work in that job where I did my degree over here, here pays me about 100 pound more a month because we are proper qualified as support worker back home...I was very happy when I worked with challenging kids in a childrens home...but there simply the social sector collapsed in 2004/2005 following which 80% of my course was unemployed (inclusive me as I declined a manager post at my employer as I preferred to take on a job in Ireland in 2003).
So yes, I can agree with you, considering the reunification I suppose my country did well.
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