Germany: Lack of qualified staff and immigration

Almost 34 million people are in full-time employment in Germany. This is undoubtedly a record. At the same time, however, the number of job vacancies continues to rise. Employees from years of high birth rate retire and due to low birth rate the number of potential employees at standard working ages decreases. More and more entrepreneurs are complaining about the lack of skilled labor. It has become one of the biggest business risks for the German economy. A recent poll by the Civey Polling Institute on behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation shows the deteriorating situation. Of the 7,500 companies surveyed, 66% said they did not find enough employees. Last year, 55% of respondents estimated that this year they would face difficulties.

The language, the biggest obstacle

The situation varies depending on the sector, the region, the professional image and the qualifications. When asked by employers who suffer from a shortage of skilled workers, who they are in dire need of, two out of three answer that they immediately need people with full vocational training. For those with an academic education it is one in 4 companies. Regarding the sectors of the economy, a particularly large shortage of qualified personnel is recorded in the field of health and health in general. “The fact is that Germany has run out of work,” Federal Employment Agency Chairman Dettlef Seel warned in August. “And in fact everywhere, from nurses and air conditioning technicians to academics and technical and financial support staff. About 400,000 migrants will be needed each year to fill gaps in the labor market.”

In practice, however, the search for labor from abroad plays a secondary role. Only 16% of those surveyed said they were looking abroad for a job. Most try to attract local employees through highly attractive offers. As of March 1, a law is in force in Germany, which facilitates the entry into the country of qualified professionals from third countries. However, many companies are reluctant to recruit foreign workers. The reasons are varied. The first reason is their concern about the level of language comprehension and the difficulty of assessing the candidates’ qualifications. Similarly in some areas the answers of companies that have hired foreigners are completely different. This shows that some of the reservations are based, for example, on oral communication. On the contrary, bureaucratic obstacles are proving to be less important in practice than they first appeared.

Barriers, and how to make them smaller

The Bertelsmann Foundation speculates that policy efforts to facilitate the entry of professionals from abroad have borne fruit. For example, by speeding up the process of acquiring skills, enhancing language learning and offering better information in relation to the recognition of professional qualifications acquired abroad. However, “barriers to attracting foreign skilled labor continue to exist despite significant progress,” warns Matthias Meyer, an immigration expert at the Bertelsmann Foundation.

In the survey, 67% of respondents expect that next year they will have less specialized staff than they need. “Deficiencies will become more pronounced without any end in sight. We as a society need sustainable solutions to tackle demographic change and social and ecological transformation,” Meyer said. As he emphasizes, it is crucial to implement the law on labor migration in a consistent manner. This includes facilitating the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad by immigration experts.

Zambine Kincharts

Edited by: Irini Anastassopoulou

Source: Deutsche Welle