Holding it in one's hand

Holding it one’s hand – background information

 
Not staying but leaving – the 14 million or so labour migrants recruited between 1955 and 1973 should not and did not want to immigrate to Germany, according to the plans of most of those involved. 

The time limit was controversial from the outset: Ludwig Erhard discussed initial plans for recruitment with the Italian foreign minister as early as 1954, arguing that a labour shortage could soon be expected in view of the reintroduction of compulsory military service and the start of armaments production. The initiative met with much resistance – the trade unions and the SPD positioned themselves against recruitment and argued that employment should first be guaranteed for every German unemployed person before recourse could be made to foreign labour.

There were various interpretations of exactly when full employment could be said to exist: The labour market varied greatly from region to region. Therefore, when the first recruitment agreement was signed, it was argued that immigrants could absorb temporary ‘peak demand’ by being individually assigned to a specific company. This short-term perspective was repeatedly adopted in the years that followed. For many years, migrants thus became a reserve of flexibility for the German labour market, which also reacted in times of crisis – such as during the country's first recession in 1966/67 – with numerous layoffs and expulsions.

However, for both companies and many employees, the short-term or temporary stay quickly became unrealistic, and the conditions designed for rotation were a hindrance. Companies had no interest in losing workers who had only recently been trained and then having to invest more time in training new workers. And although the migrants' life and work plan did not provide for this: Many built up permanent livelihoods in their new place of residence.