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Structural Change Blah-Blah in Saxony-Anhalt: Billions for Short Films, Networking Bingo and AI Plants – But No Plan for Real Jobs!While politicians are selling the coal phase-out with promises worth billions, the official Facebook propaganda page “Structural Change Saxony-Anhalt” mercilessly exposes just how helpless they really are: Instead of creating industrial jobs, taxpayers’ money is being spent on make-work schemes, little films and idea competitions. 
Structural change? An expensive placebo with no substance. Let's take a look at the latest posts. One Million Euros for “Ideas That Make a Difference” – But Not a Single Factory BuildingOne million euros in prize money for the “Revierpionier” (Mining Region Pioneer) competition. Sounds like a major initiative? In reality, the money goes to citizen projects, associations and initiatives – education, civic engagement and craft-related ideas. In Bitterfeld-Wolfen, nine projects received a total of €64,450 in awards, focusing on “Education & Skilled Workers.” Next year, the theme will be “Craftsmanship Drives Change.” Wonderful. While coal jobs and indirect employment are disappearing and other industries (chemicals, suppliers) are struggling, they are handing out handouts to small-scale projects. The link to the supposedly comprehensive list of Bitterfeld's winners doesn't even work, and the Facebook post cannot be linked to – a fitting symbol of the entire “transformation.”Criticism from employers and trade unions is nothing new: Due to EU regulations and the way the legislation is structured, the billions in subsidies (up to €4.8 billion for Saxony-Anhalt alone) can hardly be channelled directly into businesses and new industrial jobs. Instead, the money goes into infrastructure, research, renovation and competitions like these. The result? Birdwatching towers and similar projects instead of equivalent jobs. The approximately 10,000 new positions promised through SEP projects largely remain “in the pipeline” – tangible results? Nowhere to be seen. The funds are being disbursed at a snail's pace, and real economic value creation remains elusive. Networking Bingo and Idea Workshops: Politicians Throw in the Towel and Shift the Blame onto Citizens“Ever heard of networking bingo?” asks another post (which cannot be linked because linking has been disabled) and invites people to an idea workshop entitled “This Could Be the Start of Something Good” in Eisleben. Translation: Those in charge have no ideas of their own for structural change and are leaving job creation to citizens at free workshops. Destroying jobs through the phase-out? They've got that covered. Creating new ones? That's where they play bingo and hope for the best. While the last open-cast mines are scheduled to close by the mid-2030s, affecting thousands of people directly and indirectly, they are organising make-work schemes.Film Club Pioneers: What Must Be Preserved – Anything but JobsParticularly revealing: The Halle Film Club as a “Revierpionier” (Mining Region Pioneer). A private initiative bringing together geography, music and film is travelling around the region, making short films about “what is worth preserving amid structural change.” The obvious questions: Jobs? Industry? Economic value creation? Nowhere to be seen. Instead, there are camera excursions and local screenings – a make-work scheme for media professionals and a cultural placebo. Art that doesn't pay the bills, funded from the structural change budget. While real industrial jobs are nowhere to be found, people are filming what is supposedly “worth preserving.” Pure irony.AI Breeds the Plants of the Future – and Automates Away the Last Remaining JobsThe pinnacle of denial: “Can AI Help Breed the Plants of the Future?” The DiP-DIAMANT research project at the University of Halle uses sequencing, digital methods and AI to develop more robust crop varieties faster and more precisely. Sounds progressive. In reality, research like this often aims at automation and efficiency – fewer agricultural workers, not more. New jobs? Quite the opposite, most likely. While everyone cheers about AI-powered plants, there are no concrete plans for industrial investments that could replace the well-paid coal and downstream industry jobs that are disappearing.The Great Failure: Billions, Promises – and Sugar-Coating Instead of a StrategyThe figures speak volumes. After German reunification, employment in the coal industry collapsed dramatically. Today, there are “only” around 2,000 direct jobs left in the Central German Mining District – plus thousands of indirect jobs and additional losses in other industries. Officially, everything is supposed to happen in a socially responsible manner, skilled workers are to be retained and new economic value creation is to be established. In practice: funds being allocated at a snail's pace, major projects being cancelled or scaled back, public protests against yet more unused commercial development sites, and a Facebook page trying to disguise the lack of any plan with film clubs, bingo and idea competitions.Politicians are destroying structures that provided employment for generations and replacing them with projectitis, research and civic engagement competitions. There are nowhere near enough major industrial investments, no genuine compensation for high-quality jobs – just taxpayer-funded make-work schemes. The “structural change” is being talked up while the region continues to face demographic and economic pressure. Anyone who thinks that short films and networking bingo will create a thriving industrial landscape simply hasn't got the message. The people of the mining region deserve more than propaganda and handouts – they deserve a real plan. Until then, all we get is expensive blah-blah. Author: AI-Translation - АИИ | |
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