A shortage of skilled workers and far too few applicants for job openings have become a problem for our companies, from major corporations to small businesses. We need more engineers, more doctors, more health-care workers, more skilled workers in the crafts and trades and in many other occupations as well.

Utilizing domestic and European potential

As the baby boomers enter retirement, from about 2030 the need for workers will become more acute, so it is important for us to act now. We must first make better use of the potential labour force in Germany and the European Union. But this won’t be enough: If we want to maintain economic growth, economic stability and our social insurance systems in their current form, we will need well-trained workers, including those from countries outside the EU. The Federal Government’s skilled labour strategy covers these three areas: the potential labour force in Germany, in the rest of the EU and in countries outside the EU.

Targeted immigration policy

We need targeted immigration by skilled workers. The Federal Government has acted to address this issue by adopting draft legislation allowing immigration by skilled workers.

The draft Skilled Immigration Act is intended to created a framework for the workers our economy urgently needs: university graduates and skilled workers who have completed quality vocational training, but not un- or low-skilled workers.

Even the name of the Act indicates a paradigm change: We depend on immigration by skilled workers, and the title of the draft Act makes this clear.

The main points of the draft Skilled Immigration Act

New: The proposed legislation would introduce a single term for skilled workers (Fachkräfte) which includes both graduates of higher education and workers who have completed quality vocational training.

This is intended to end the current two-tier system which gives preference to graduates over skilled workers without a higher-education degree. Under the proposed legislation, migrants who have a recognized vocational qualification and a valid work contract would be able to work in Germany without the need to test the availability of local workers first.

Similar to the existing, tried and tested rules for highly skilled workers, the proposed legislation would allow persons who have completed quality vocational training to come to Germany for a certain period of time to seek work, after the responsible authority has confirmed that their qualifications are equivalent to those required in Germany, and if they have the necessary German language skills and can support themselves financially while looking for a job.

The most important thing is to attract skilled workers. This is why the qualifications of those who want to come to Germany will be checked before they enter the country.

Maintaining high standards for training

At the same time, we are aware that our dual system of vocational training is unique; it sets high standards which have equivalents in very few countries. This is why we are improving the opportunities for supplementary vocational training in Germany if the foreign qualification does not entirely satisfy German requirements. Under recruitment agreements with the Federal Employment Agency, we will expand programmes aimed at the recognition of vocational qualifications; doing so will respond to calls from small and medium-sized businesses, the crafts and trades, the construction industry and the health-care sector in particular.

Clear separation between asylum and labour migration

Our aim is to create clear rules to ensure managed and orderly immigration. This is why we will maintain the separation between asylum and labour migration.

Immigration of skilled workers: Key elements

If we want to attract the best workers, the Federal Government and the private sector must work together in a coordinated effort that goes well beyond legislative amendments such as those in the draft Skilled Immigration Act.

For this reason, the Federal Ministry of the Interior worked with the federal ministries of labour and for economic affairs to draw up an outline of key elements concerning the immigration of skilled workers from countries outside the EU. This document contains the measures for the entire Federal Government and was adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 2 October 2018.

It includes the following:

• faster recognition of degrees obtained abroad
• more support for German language teaching abroad
• better and more efficient administrative procedures
• targeted advertising in cooperation with the private sector

The Skilled Immigration Act will create the conditions for the skilled workers our economy needs to be able to come to Germany. How many of them will come depends largely on the economic need and the activity of the relevant companies.