Wirtschaftsstandort Oldenburg

Die Region zeichnet sich durch eine Vielfalt im Arbeits-,
Kultur- und Alltagsleben aus.
The region stands out with a diversity of working, cultural and everyday life.
Initially, one great hurdle for many is learning the new
language. Only those who tackle it early on with grit and
determination will have a real perspective later on in
everyday life, particularly on the job market. Schools have
acknowledged the problem, setting up special language
learning groups. But additional activities are necessary.
Wilhelmshaven for example has a project in the multigeneration
house that looks after foreign children on four
days a week. This helps to dismantle language barriers
while sustainably fostering integration. At the end of 2014,
17.8 percent of Wilhelmshaven’s population had a migrant
background.
In 2011, a training drive named “Weltoffene Oldenburger
Wirtschaft” (WOW – Oldenburg’s open-minded business
sector) was launched by the City of Oldenburg, Oldenburg
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Oldenburg Chamber
of Skilled Crafts, the Federal Employment Agency and the
“Leitstelle Region des Lernens” (RdL – Region of Learning
Centre). Oldenburg Job Centre joined this initiative in early
2013. Cooperation between the participating institutions
has paid off in recent years.
But it’s not time to rest on the laurels, with Delmenhorst
demonstrating just to what extent further efforts are ne c -
essary. In 2011, 42 percent of the altogether 6,000 foreign
nationals registered as residents of the city were living on
benefits. The Job Centre ascertained that lacking language
skills were the main cause, leading to increasing efforts
in terms of German language courses. Those who get
left by the wayside will increasingly start to feel the pressure.
The risk in the long term is that they will retreat into
parallel communities just existing next to each other and
not living with each other.
Migration and integration: this is an area with an active
role for the North West not just in the present but also
in historical terms too. Oldenburg saw a dramatic increase
in population after the Second World War. Background:
about 40,000 refugees arrived in the town on the river
Hunte, turning into a city in next-to-no time. Oldenburg
still prides itself with the way it coped in this phase,
despite all the problems.
Although today’s situation is different as there are no
longer tens of thousands of new arrivals coming to the
city in just a few months, the significance of integration is
still increasing rather than shrinking. Whether refugees,
specifically acquired skilled workers or seasonal labourers
primarily in agriculture – they all want to find a place in
society as quickly as possible and become integrated
rather than just tolerated. On the ground, this results in
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