xi's moments
Home | Europe

Germany targeting foreign workers

By JONATHAN POWELL in London | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-12-02 09:51

A worker installs a pre-fabricated, insulated facade element made by Berlin-based firm Ecoworks on an older building, in Bochum, Germany, Nov 8, 2022. [Photo/Agencies]

Germany's government has agreed to immigration reform as it seeks to secure more skilled workers from outside the European Union and address a shortage that it says is slowing down the economy.

Europe's biggest economy is reported to need an extra 400,000 immigrant workers a year, while industry associations have said there is an urgent need for expertise in the field of technology and in the skilled trades, catering, logistics, education and nursing.

The German Cabinet wants to open up the job market in a bid to tackle the acute worker supply deficit, reported the Reuters news agency.

The government wants to bring in workers who speak German or have relevant skills, and to increase training to deal with the shortage. In a statement, it said reforms to the Skilled Immigration Act would include an "opportunity card for job-seekers" based on a point system for skilled non-EU workers.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters in a news briefing that the reforms would create "the most modern law on immigration in Europe".

"We want workers to be able to quickly come to Germany and get started," Faeser said, adding that Germany wanted to establish the "most modern migration rules within the EU".

The measures intend to modernize Germany's immigration law, and follows through on plans announced when Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, made up of the center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats, took office one year ago, reported the Deutsche Welle news network, or DW.

Reuters noted that the skills shortage increases pressure on the German economy at a time of weakening growth, and as an aging population raises demand on the public pension system.

"We need you," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in an English video message released earlier this week on YouTube and aimed at foreign workers around the world.

The proposals must first go before the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament, and it could take some months before they go through, reported the BBC.

The news network cited Habeck as saying there was now an urgency to tackle the issue. "We have known for years that we will have a demographic problem, but not enough has been done," he said.

Obstacles in the asylum system will be removed, making it easier for immigrants to get permanent residency and offer citizenship to people who have lived in Germany for a long time, reported DW.

Scholz has promised a "transparent, unbureaucratic" immigration points system, and in a speech earlier this week, introduced the government's intentions to extend citizenship rights. He said: "Those who live and work here permanently should also be able to vote and be elected, they should be part of our country."

Some opposition politicians have raised objections to the plans, noted DW. Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, warned that the government was facilitating "immigration into the social welfare systems".

Global Edition
BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349