2023-11-03 21:12:57
Germany is running out of workers. There is a shortage of nurses and educators, technicians and computer scientists and many, many others. The Federal Employment Agency assumes that around 400,000 more people have to immigrate to Germany every year than leave the country. This is the only way to close the gap that the baby boomers will soon leave behind when they retire.
Wibke Becker
Editor in politics for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
Alexander Wulfers
Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
The federal government has therefore recently set a lot of things in motion. Federal ministers travel around the world, from Ghana to India, to promote Germany. A new skilled worker immigration law will come into force in the next few months. Among other things, it provides for an opportunity card with a points system that foreigners can use to come to Germany to look for a job. Foreign professional qualifications should be recognized more easily. There will also be shorter deadlines for naturalization. “This will give Germany one of the most liberal immigration laws in the world,” says Thomas Liebig, senior economist in the OECD’s International Migration Department.
But this is only the first step taken. And the second doesn’t just depend on Germany. Do people even want to come here? Is Germany attractive for immigrants, or do they prefer to go to other industrialized countries that will also urgently need skilled workers in the coming years due to demographic change? When it comes to Germany’s deficits, the same terms are often used: lack of housing, salaries that are too low, long waiting times at the immigration authorities, little support after arrival. The German language also remains an important issue, but one that OECD economist Liebig does not want to overestimate. It is clear to the immigrants that they have to learn German in Germany, he says. And the willingness to do so is certainly there.
“The image of Germany then crumbles a bit”
However, other factors in external perception could be more important. For example, when people have to camp in front of immigration authorities in order to extend their visa, as was recently the case in Stuttgart. “It spreads like wildfire in the community,” says Deniz Ates. He is the founder of the digital platform “Whomoves”, which places foreign skilled workers. Candidates have already asked him in disbelief whether things are really that bad in Germany. “The image of Germany then crumbles a bit.” The image problem is exacerbated by the record results of the anti-migrant AfD in surveys and also in recent state elections. Something like this also gets around abroad. Business associations are already warning of dangers for the business location because the party’s further strengthening could deter workers.
This year, the OECD surveyed people who want to emigrate to Germany and those who are already there. The numbers suggest: Germany’s reputation is better than reality. Before moving to Germany, 45 percent of those surveyed said without reservation: “Germany is a country that welcomes immigrants.” Among those who are already in Germany, only 30 percent strongly agree with this statement. After their arrival, even fewer of them believe that Germany has a real interest in attracting foreign skilled workers and that it is easy to integrate into this country. Deniz Ates says that the best advertising for life in Germany is positive reports from those who are already there. If that’s true, then Germany’s immigrant future doesn’t look so rosy.
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