[brtkdotse]

> Fachkräftemangel

Why is this German word thrown in without any explanation? I’ve noticed this is a common trend whenever a Germany-adjacent topic is discussed.

[nicbou]

It was on everyone’s lips for a few years, to the point that it had become the placeholder for the entire meme.

The short version is that there is a shortage of skilled workers that absolutely requires immigrants to fill the gaps. However when you look around there isn’t really a shortage; people just aren’t willing to work for little pay. The English term implies that there is an actual shortage.

It might please you to know just how much English other languages are peppered with.

[fabianholzer]

It's being used in the German political discourse since at least the first term of the Schröder government in the late 1990es, which is about where I started following the news and politics more closely. It has been used cynically as justification for every thinkable cut into the social system ever since, from lobbying against a minimum wage to moving up the retirement age. You won't find many people, except for politicians and lobbyists, that'll still use the term unironically. It seems there are remarkable parallels on the other side of the Atlantic ocean.

[missedthecue]

Does this imply that people would rather be broke than work for less pay than they want? How are they paying rent each month?

[romanows]

I had to look it up; for others, it means "skilled worker shortage".

[Izkata]

Unless they edited it in afterwards, they are translating it. That's what the two-comma asides are, explanations/clarifications.

[RGamma]

I edited it in, sorry for the confusion.

[thrawn0r]

the OP has the explanation (skilled labor shortage) just after the word....