Hoping to recruit qualified workers from outside the EU in order to tackle its skilled labor shortage and prevent companies from moving business abroad, Germany has turned its attention on countries such as India, Mexico and Vietnam to fill the gaps.
Seeking to fill a shortage of metal workers, electrical engineers, nurses, cooks, computer scientists, mechatronics engineers, software developers and care workers for the aged, the German government has been seeking to draw qualified workers from India, Mexico, Vietnam, Brazil and the Philippines, among others.
The country looks to tackle its domestic shortfall by recruiting qualified workers from other EU countries, too. Already home to 2.5 million workers from the EU, Germany will look to increase this number with The Skilled Workers Immigration Act, the latter set to come into force on March 1, 2020. The bill aims to make the arrival of skilled workers from non-EU countries to Germany a lot easier.
On her weekly podcast on Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of the country’s skilled labor shortage, stressing the fact that it could force German companies to move elsewhere.
Media journal Deutche Welle, reporting on the podcast, quoted Merkel as saying, "We know that many sectors and businesses are looking for skilled workers. Without sufficient skilled workers, a business cannot be successful. That is why it is necessary for us to make every effort to recruit a sufficient number of specialists. Otherwise, companies will have to migrate — and, of course, we do not want that."