Ageing population, labour crunch prompt Germany to open doors for skilled migration

Faced with an ageing colonisation and increasing labour shortage, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is turning towards different countries, including India which German officials telephone “the world’s largest labour pool”, for skilled workers.

Germany needs astir 400,000 caller workers each twelvemonth to conscionable aboriginal request for skilled labour, according to the Labour Ministry. The level of request is peculiarly precocious successful the nursing, education, IT, gastronomy and hospitality segments, and it volition stay high, according to authoritative estimates, astatine slightest until mid-1960s.

Last year, Germany passed a caller Skilled Immigration Act, laying “the instauration for making Germany a much charismatic destination for professionals from abroad”. Germany has besides launched an Opportunity Card which allows overseas applicants to enactment successful the state for up to a twelvemonth portion they hunt for a job.

‘Indians are welcome’

“India for america is the astir important state of origin. You are precedence fig 1. India is the lone state for whom we person a skilled labour strategy from the national authorities due to the fact that we cognize of the large opportunities the Indian labour marketplace offers for German employers,” Clemens Kohnen, peculiar envoy for skilled labour migration, told The Hindu at the Federal Foreign Office successful Berlin.

Speaking astatine the Brandt Hall (named aft the erstwhile Foreign Minister and Chancellor Willy Brandt) astatine the Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) here, Mr. Kohnen said Germany was looking astatine antithetic labour fields successful India. “A batch of radical travel from the wellness sector, nurses, caretakers and doctors, of course. Science, mathematics and IT are different fields. Down the road, we would instrumentality skilled labour from India from much oregon little each azygous antithetic field. We besides invited Indian students who are the biggest excavation of overseas students successful Germany from extracurricular the EU.”

There are much than 40,000 Indian students successful Germany today, and the numbers are going up each year. According to Mr. Kohnen, the retention complaint of Indian students is 1 of the highest among overseas students coming to Germany.

“This means, a batch of Indian Indian students who travel to Germany enactment connected for a job. We greatly invited that. The payment with Indian students is that they are precise bully astatine learning our language. Experience shows america that seemingly if you are coming from India you find it easier to instrumentality on the hard German language. This makes it easier to integrate into the occupation market.”

According to the Federal Labour Ministry, immoderate 137,000 Indians were employed successful skilled labour positions successful February 2024, that is astir 23,000 much than the twelvemonth before. In 2015, the fig of Indians successful specified jobs was conscionable 23,000 successful total. Current numbers besides amusement that joblessness among Indians surviving successful Germany is lone 3.7%, portion the wide unemployment complaint of the state is 6.3%.

War, recession and the far-right

But Germany’s migration communicative is not 1 without challenges. Despite the government’s efforts to marque skilled migration attractive, the German bureaucracy could hold the full process, accidental officials and manufacture representatives. Besides, Germany is presently successful an economical recession, and Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine and the consequent economical decoupling betwixt Europe and Russia person worsened Berlin’s economical pain. In caller years, Germany has besides witnessed the emergence of far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). In the February 2025 election, the AfD emerged arsenic the 2nd largest enactment with 20.8% votes, up from 10.4% successful the erstwhile election. What bash each these mean for skilled migration?

“German migration is complex. We request to alteration it. There is till Red Tape,” said Lorenz Lauer of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). “But Germany is witnessing demographic shifts. Too galore radical are getting old. We request young radical successful the economy. We request skilled labour to capable the vacancies,” helium added.

Asked astir the interaction of the Ukraine and recession connected the occupation markets, Mr. Lauer said, “Energy prices successful Germany were precocious adjacent earlier the war. After the war, it skyrocketed. But it has stabilised now. But energy-dependent industries person taken a hit. Many jobs person been mislaid successful the concern sector. But different industries person expanded.”

Added different DIHK official: “Despite the economical recession, if 1 looks astatine the concern from a demographic constituent of view, we inactive request workers, particularly successful the healthcare sector.”

Consensus connected skilled migration

Foreign Office officials hold that the emergence of the AfD is simply a origin of concern. But, they reason that adjacent the AfD recognise the necessity for skilled labour arsenic the economical and demographic world of Germany demands much skilled workers.

“We are precise acrophobic astir the emergence of the far-right AfD successful Germany. They person a precise wide anti-immigrant narrative. At the aforesaid clip they are not successful authorities — they are not successful authorities astatine the national level, they are not successful authorities astatine immoderate of the 16 states, and I find it hard to ideate that we are going towards a state wherever they are abruptly successful a presumption to marque decisions,” said Mr. Kohnen, of the Foreign Office.

“One of the large concerns of the far-right is amerciable migration, which we person to address. We consciousness that the past authorities (of Olaf Scholz) and besides the caller authorities (of Frederik Merz) person enactment a precise beardown accent successful warring amerciable migration, warring successful peculiar trafficking, and returning radical who are present without ineligible presumption — meaning, we privation to power the migration, but besides privation to invited with unfastened arms skilled labour migration,” helium added.

According to Jens Michael Bopp, caput of skilled labour migration astatine helium Foreign Office, the governmental statement connected migration successful Germany is astir amerciable migration , not connected skilled migration. “Skilled migration is not considered arsenic migration successful German governmental debate. When politicians reason migration, they notation to irregular migration. We differentiate betwixt skilled migration and irregular migration,” helium said. “In the predetermination programme, each parties, including the AfD, admit that Germany needs skilled workers. We bash not expect this concern to alteration immoderate clip successful the future,” added Mr. Bopp.

The writer was successful Berlin astatine an invitation from the German Federal Office.