Germany’s parliament on Friday approved plans that will reform the country’s migration law to address acute shortage of skilled workers in a growing number of professions.
The reformed law seeks to attract more skilled workers to Germany. It foresees a “points system” taking into account professional experience and other factors, along the lines of systems already used by countries such as Canada.
It will ease entry rules for information technology specialists who lack university degrees but have other qualifications.
Lawmakers voted 388-234 in favor of the legislation, with 31 abstentions.
Asylum seekers who arrived before March 29 and have both qualifications and a job offer can get a residence permit as a professional if they withdraw their asylum applications; eliminating the need to leave the country and apply anew for a work permit. Highly skilled workers will be allowed to bring more relatives to Germany, so long as they can support them financially.
The law will also lower eligibility criteria for Blue Card work visas and increase entitlements, such as leave to remain and family reunification. Moreover, the government will raise the number of work visas available for companies to hire workers specifically from the Western Balkans.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told lawmakers, “The shortage of skilled labor is considered one of the biggest brakes on economic growth in Germany, and skilled workers are missing everywhere.” She described the legislation as “a huge step for the future of our country.”
Hans Vorländer, a political scientist at the TU Dresden and chair of the Expert Council on Integration and Migration established by the federal government, told reporters, “There are mainly three new developments: first, an extension of the recognition of foreign qualifications, secondly, work experience will be playing a greater role; and third, the points-based system.”
For years, Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has struggled with the need to attract more skilled workers from outside the European Union. Experts say the country needs about 400,000 skilled immigrants each year as its aging workforce shrinks.
Earlier this month, the national labor agency disclosed that an annual analysis showed 200 out of about 1,200 professions it surveyed had labor shortages last year, up from 148 the previous year. It said that bus drivers, service jobs in hotels and restaurants and jobs in metalwork were among those that joined the list.
Other professions where Germany is struggling to fill jobs are in nursing care, child care, the construction industry and automotive technology, along with truck drivers, architects, pharmacists and information technology specialists.
The agency pointed to a “mismatch” between demand for labor and potential employees, and said that only 26% of jobless skilled workers seeking employment last year were looking for a job in one of the areas with shortages.
Opposition Bloc Criticizes Plan
Andrea Lindholz, a senior lawmaker with the main conservative opposition bloc, decried the plan as one that would above all bring in low-skilled people, allow migrants who are supposed to leave to stay and reduce German language requirements.
She asserted that the government is “creating new incentives for illegal immigration to Germany.”
Stephan Stracke argued, “You’re not envisaging skilled but low-skilled labour. 25,000 people from the Western Balkans, 30,000 for short-term employment, 30,000 for the Opportunity Card … That has nothing to do with qualification anymore.”
Norbert Kleinwächter, an MP for the far-right AfD, claimed that migration in previous years had mainly come from countries such as Romania, Afghanistan, India, Bulgaria, which he took as an indication that the government’s plans were making Germany a “junk country”.
Meanwhile, Vorländer cautioned that the law might create administrative bottlenecks and longer processing times, making it “doubtful if the law will actually lead to the desired figures.”
“The efficiency of the law is a question of its implementation and of administrative investment,” he said.
