Germany eager to attract skilled Indian employees

Germany wants to attract more workers from India, in a bid to fill gaps in its labor market.

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said the push to entice skilled Indian workers to the country was launched on Wednesday, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Cabinet agreed on 30 new measures aimed at boosting immigration from the country.

"Germany needs more economic dynamism and that requires qualified skilled labor," the German news agency Deutsche Welle quoted him as saying.

He explained that a shortage of skilled workers has been curtailing German innovation and economic growth.

Heil said the shortage is a byproduct of Germany's aging society, which has more people currently retiring than starting out on their careers.

"The situation in India is just the opposite," he said. "One million new people enter the labor market each month."

A government strategy paper providing background on the issue said the fact that India has more skilled workers than it needs means its government is encouraging people to emigrate in order to find employment.

"That is why Germany views India as an especially important partner when it comes to the issue of skilled labor migration," the document noted.

Germany is hoping an influx of Indian workers will ensure it can fill vacancies in its healthcare and IT sectors, and in the construction industry.

Germany has not said how many workers it is hoping to attract from India but, in a bid to make emigration easier, it will introduce a new digital visa for Indians by the end of 2024. And Germany will provide language lessons for new arrivals and offer them tips on finding work. Germany will also remove bureaucratic obstacles to Indian workers being welcomed in Germany and hold recruitment activities throughout India, to try to attract the workers it needs.

That process will start next week when Heil and Scholz will be joined by a delegation of high-ranking government officials for a visit to India that will include a trip to a bakery that specializes in German-style bread, and a tour of a school, where they will ask students to consider moving to Germany.

Germany's Federal Labor Office will also start advising Indian students already living in Germany about their options to stay in the country, the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur has reported.

Germany has already attracted a large number of Indian workers, with the country's Federal Labor Ministry saying around 137,000 Indians were working in skilled jobs in Germany during February 2024, some 23,000 more than during the same month a year earlier.

Scholz is also expected to talk with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, about cooperation between Germany and India on sustainable and green development and on military and strategic synergies.