Working for Germany Inc.

An analysis by Prognos AG for the Bavarian industry association VBW found that 370,000 Czech jobs are dependent on German industry. In a sense, this makes Germany Inc. the No. 2 employer in the CR, behind only the Czech state, with 414,000 workers, and ahead of Česká pošta's 34,000. Poland, with its population of 39m, has 620,000 people working for Germany, but in terms of the percentage of the total gross value added shipped to Germany, Poland is half as dependent as the CR (4% vs. 8%). Hungary is in second place in this respect, behind the CR, at 7%. The study was apparently ordered by VBW to counter criticism from the EU Commission that Germany's current-account surplus is too large, but the results will also no doubt come in handy as German industry molds EU policy toward Russia. Any restrictions on German exports would translate directly into fewer jobs for Czechs, Poles and Hungarians.