German Cabinet Approves Immigration Reforms to Deal with Worker Shortage

May 24, 2019
The German cabinet recently approved an immigration law to attract skilled overseas labor. This was after a long wait and will also come into force next year.

German Cabinet Approves Immigration Reforms to Deal with Worker Shortage


The strategy and focus


There is a focus to remove numerous obstacles faced by immigrants who wish to undertake work in Germany. It will also benefit those professionals who justify that they can fill up the job shortage that remains unfilled by German and other EU nationals.

It also authorizes immigrants possessing suitable qualifications, knowledge of the German language and also the required financial means, to reach Germany and work there. Formerly, this opportunity was exclusive to the top and qualified professionals only.

Additionally, this law permits foreign labor to arrive in Germany and get approval of the qualifications and obtain an official recognition through a German institution.

Several German businesses, suffering from the absence of properly qualified workers, were demanding this law for 30 years. There were many IT companies among them. Last week, Bitkom, a German IT Federation announced of having 82,000 vacancies in the IT companies.

Other facts


These were considerably higher figures in comparison to the previous year. A German newspaper reports that this law may not be in favor of the conservative party and the coalition partners in Social Democrats. These parties were losing voters to Alternative for Germany, the far-right party, since 2015, after Germany adopted an open door policy for refugees. Merkel’s cabinet was in support of the law because Germany can benefit from the nationalist policies adopted by the US as well as the UK. Moreover, this can be a good development for modern Germany, as per Hubertus Heil, its Labor Minister.

An expert from the OECD group of industrialized nations stated that Germany has an open system for top qualified immigrants but there are a few problems for those who are medium-qualified.

This area has rampant labor shortages. The new law can open up and attract the segment for middle-skilled persons.

Different voices


Members belonging to the Alternative for Germany have an anti-immigration stand and have criticized this move. They claim that it would provide encouragement to migrants to arrive in Germany and also seek asylum. They feel that this law permits them to stay in the country in case there application is rejected. Germany must have immigration legislation regulating and limiting immigration.

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