BERLIN – Germany hopes to attract doctors and mechanical and electrical engineers from abroad by scrapping restrictions that made it more difficult for them to find work as part of a plan to increase the nation’s skilled labour force.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed Wednesday with industry and union leaders to a long-term concept that includes changing immigration laws so that German companies can more easily hire engineers and doctors from abroad. Merkel said the plan is only a first step.
“We will take further steps to make sure targeted immigration (for professionals) is possible,” Merkel said.
Under current laws, German companies can only hire foreigners if they are willing to pay them an annual salary of more than €66,000 ($95,000), or can prove there are no qualified German or European Union citizens.
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Experts warn that Germany is not turning out enough graduates and could face a shortage of 6.5 million qualified professionals by 2025.
German companies were seeking about 73,000 engineers in May, according to the Association of Electronic and Computer Technicians, or VDE.
Attracting more skilled foreign labour is only part of the package that also focuses on retraining German professionals whose qualifications are outdated, or who have been out of the job market for several years, Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.
“It is a three-pronged approach, and we cannot falter on any of the points,” von der Leyen said. “If we want to remain at the top, we have to attract top people from all over.”
The proposed package must still pass parliament, where it has met with some opposition, including from Merkel’s junior coalition partner who argues that it doesn’t go far enough.
Other industries, such as the Bitkom association, also argued that it was too limited in scope, pointing out that Germany currently has openings for 35,000 computer programmers who will not benefit from the eased restrictions.
“It is completely incomprehensible that computer programmers are not included,” Bitkom chief Bernhard Rohleder said.
He argued that Germany is not doing enough to attract the top young programmers from other nations, which would end up hurting its industry.
“We need to actively advertise for Germany as a place to work,” Rohleder said.
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