The German cabinet agreed on Wednesday to immigration reform in a bid to secure more skilled workers.
Europe’s biggest economy is currently experiencing a lack of roughly half a million people to its workforce and wants to make up for the shortfall.
The federal government said it wants to boost immigration and training to tackle a skills shortage which is hampering the country’s economy at a time of weakening growth. Meanwhile, an aging population is increasing pressure on the public pension system.
Germany is also keen on granting immigrants from the Western Balkan countries, such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, access to their job market for an unlimited amount of time.
The proposals to amend the Skilled Immigration Act, first introduced in March 2020, include an “opportunity card for jobseekers.”
The policy is based on a new points system which considers attributes such as language skills and work experience and not just formal qualifications.
Is Germany’s new ‘green card’ a real opportunity?
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Shortage of workers in Health care, IT and construction sectors
Germany’s Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said: “We’ve got a lot to offer, we’ve got great jobs and we need to strengthen that (image) abroad,” he said, adding that it is in the country’s interest to present itself as a cosmopolitan society that’s welcoming to immigrants.
The bill still needs to be debated in parliament before German politicians pass it into law.
Experts say Germany needs some 400,000 skilled immigrants to arrive each year as the country’s ageing workforce shrinks, particularly to fill vacancies in the health care, IT and construction sectors.
Germany plans to relax citizenship rules
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jsi/jcg (AP, Reuters, dpa)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-loosen-immigration-rules-for-workers-from-abroad/a-63942098?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf