Germany Seeks Skilled Migrants

by Soeren Kern
October 6, 2018 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13085/germany-skilled-migrants

Translations of this item:

Czech

The new immigration law is a tacit admission that Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door migration policy, which has allowed into Germany more than a million mostly unskilled migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has failed to resolve the country's most pressing demographic challenges and labor shortages.
"We are creating the framework for more controlled immigration of qualified specialists." — Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.
By the middle of 2018, only a quarter of those who arrived during the migrant crisis had found a job and only a fifth were paying into the social welfare system, according to the Institute for Employment Research. Most of those who were employed had low-paying jobs, and many of them were receiving supplementary welfare benefits to make ends meet.

Germany's Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (left), Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier (middle) and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (right) present the government's immigration policy framework for skilled workers, at a press conference on October 2, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

After months of wrangling, Germany's coalition government has reached an agreement on the key points of a new immigration law — one that is aimed at filling labor shortages and stabilizing the public pension system by encouraging the immigration of skilled workers from outside the European Union.

The new law, which will tighten restrictions on the immigration of unskilled workers, is a tacit admission that Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door migration policy, which has allowed into Germany more than a million mostly unskilled migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has failed to resolve the country's most pressing demographic challenges and labor shortages.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) presented the compromise agreement during a joint press conference in Berlin on October 2.

The so-called Fachkräftezuwanderungsgesetz (Law on Immigration of Skilled Workers) would waive existing requirements for companies to give preference to German or EU citizens when filling job vacancies. Specifically, it would allow companies to recruit non-EU (Drittstaaten) citizens in all economic sectors, provided that those recruits are qualified for the job and have satisfactory German language skills.

Even lower requirements would apply for information technology professionals, who would be allowed to come to Germany without formal academic qualifications, provided they have solid work experience and a job offer.

The new law would also provide skilled workers without concrete job offers a six-month residence permit to find a job, provided they have German language skills and the financial means to support themselves during this period.

On the other hand, the proposed law states that non-EU citizens without higher education will not be allowed to migrate to Germany: "We do not want any immigration from unqualified third-country nationals," the deal states.

"We will ensure through clear criteria that the rules cannot be abused. We will align our efforts with the needs of our economy, taking due account of qualifications, age, language skills, evidence of a real job offer and the ability to guarantee livelihoods."

The agreement does not specifically mention the so-called Spurwechsel ("lane change") proposal, a plan championed by the SPD that would allow migrants living in Germany to exchange their asylum seeker status for permanent residency status if they find a job and learn German. "We maintain the principle of separation of asylum and labor migration," the document states. "We will prevent immigration into the social welfare system."

Seehofer and others said they feared that the "lane change" proposal would reinforce the immigration pull factor, thereby further encouraging unskilled economic migrants to travel to Germany in the hopes of being allowed to stay. "We had a silent consensus that there should be no lane change," said Seehofer.

In a compromise, however, the deal commits the government to "define clear residence criteria" for so-called Geduldete ("tolerated") migrants: well-integrated refugees whose asylum applications have been rejected but who cannot be deported because they lack identification papers, their home countries refuse to take them back, or there is legitimate fear for their safety once home. Currently, there is no unified policy on Geduldete migrants; some of Germany's 16 federal states are showing leniency while others are taking a hard line.

Seehofer said he was "extremely satisfied" with the results and described the agreement as a "pragmatic, practical response to the reality of life." He added: "We are creating the framework for more controlled immigration of qualified specialists."

Labor Minister Heil said the agreement represented the first step for a "modern immigration law in Germany."

Economic Affairs Minister Altmaier said that the deal would "ensure that all jobs for skilled workers can also be filled."

By contrast, the leader of the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alexander Gauland, said that the compromise on the so-called lane change proposal would encourage more illegal immigration:

"With the new immigration law, the SPD has once again prevailed against Seehofer. Asylum and immigration are now being mixed beyond recognition and the opportunities to escape deportation are massively expanded.

"This is now officially what the AfD has always warned: As soon as illegal immigrants have crossed our borders, they may stay with us forever."

Business leaders praised the deal. The chief executive of the Confederation of Employers' Associations, Steffen Kampeter, said that the German economy "relies on qualified specialists from abroad" in order to maintain competitiveness: "We need the brightest brains from all over the world."

The president of the Federal Association for Information Technology (Bitkom), Achim Berg, said there currently are about 55,000 job vacancies in the IT sector, costing German companies about 10 billion euros in lost sales each year:

"Bitkom has been campaigning for years for the immigration of skilled workers. We very much welcome the fact that this is now fundamentally addressed by the federal government with the Law on Immigration of Skilled Workers. We need the brightest minds from around the world to shape digitization in Germany, to support our economy and to strengthen the labor market."

Germany will need to take in 300,000 migrants annually for the next 40 years to stop population decline, according to a leaked government report. The document, parts of which were published by the Rheinische Post, revealed that the German government is counting on permanent mass migration to keep the current size of the German population (82.8 million) stable through 2060.

The report implied that Chancellor Merkel's decision to allow into the country some 1.5 million mostly Muslim migrants between 2015 and 2016 was not primarily a humanitarian gesture, but a calculated effort to stave off Germany's demographic decline and to preserve the future viability of the German welfare state, in which the young are obligated support the elderly.

The report stressed the need quickly to integrate migrants into the workforce so that they can begin paying into the social welfare system. "According to past experience, this will not be easy and will take longer than initially often hoped," the report conceded. "Successes will only be visible in the medium to long term."

By the middle of 2018, only a quarter of those who arrived during the migrant crisis had found a job and only a fifth were paying into the social welfare system, according to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). Most of those who were employed had low-paying jobs in the hospitality or services sectors, including in cleaning, package delivery or security, and many of them were receiving supplementary welfare benefits to make ends meet.

In August 2018, Deutschlandfunk public radio reported that "disillusionment has arrived" as many refugees are still receiving social welfare benefits or working in the low-wage sector:

"'First refugees, then 'German craftsman,' 'Young, alone and motivated,' 'People come to work hard,' 'Refugees are lucky.' This is what the headlines sounded like in the summer of 2015, when images of the German welcome culture were seen around the world. The welcoming teddy bears at Munich's central station promoted the view that hundreds of thousands of young men from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iran could solve several problems in one go — rejuvenate aging German society and alleviate the skills shortage.

"Three years later, the headlines sound sobering: 'Job miracle among migrants is missing,' 'Where are the specialists?' 'Most of the refugees live on Hartz IV [unemployment benefits],' 'The high burden of refugee policy.'

"Was Germany naïve in summer 2015? Did policymakers and experts see the situation from too rosy a perspective and forget that integration into the labor market is a long, sometimes rocky path? ....

"Only one out of every 100 refugees is working in a highly skilled job in Berlin. Nationwide, 8 out of 10 asylum seekers have neither a university degree nor a vocational qualification...."

In another segment entitled, "No New German Economic Miracle in Sight," Deutschlandfunk reported:

"The German economy needs skilled workers: When almost one million refugees came to Germany in 2015, hopes of the big corporations were aroused. But what role do the 30 DAX [blue chip stock market index consisting of the 30 major German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange] companies play in integrating into the labor market?

"Deutschlandfunk conducted a survey — the result is sobering: only 800 refugees have been recruited by DAX companies. Most of them work at Deutsche Post — especially in parcel sorting centers or as couriers — and also at the carmakers BMW and Daimler. But: The majority of stock market heavyweights has not hired any migrants...."

Company executives said the main problem is that migrants lack professional qualifications and German language skills.

According to the Federal Labor Office, the educational level of newly arrived migrants in Germany is far lower than initially expected: only a quarter have a high school diploma, while three quarters have no vocational training at all. Only 4% of new arrivals to Germany are highly qualified.

For now, the vast majority of migrants who entered Germany in 2015 and 2016 are wards of the German state. German taxpayers paid around €21.7 billion ($25 billion) on aid for refugees and asylum seekers in 2016, €20.8 billion in 2017, and will pay a similar amount in 2018, according to government figures published by Focus magazine.

A Finance Ministry document revealed that the migrant crisis could end up costing German taxpayers an additional €94 billion ($107 billion) by 2020. About €25.7 billion would be for social spending, such as unemployment benefits and housing support. About €5.7 billion would be destined for language courses and €4.6 billion for integrating refugees into the workforce.

Over the long-term, the 2015 migrant crisis could end up costing German taxpayers more than one trillion euros -- the equivalent of around one-third of Germany's current GDP -- according to calculations presented by economist Bernd Raffelhüschen on behalf of the Market Economy Foundation (Stiftung Marktwirtschaft). He concluded:

"We need people, that is clear. But we need people we need. Which means: Germany needs an immigration limitation law. Only those who fit into the German qualification requirements may come. Other countries do that too. One must have the courage to discriminate, that is to select."

Germany currently has more than 1.2 million job vacancies, according to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). Of these, 440,000 are for skilled jobs, which, if filled, would increase German economic output by a full percentage point, according to the German Economic Institute in Cologne.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.

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Related Topics: Europe's Migrant Crisis, Germany

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Comment on this item

28 Reader Comments

carol owen • Oct 7, 2018 at 05:22

I would laugh if it wasn't that this ego run self-serving Marxist woman had not already damaged our beautiful Europe, its cities, its people and the future!

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Robert Valence • Oct 7, 2018 at 04:22

One other point: those 80% of immigrants without jobs and on benefits are likely to be angry and frustrated, especially if the benefits are reduced in time. They are ripe pickings for Al Qaeda, ISIS and the like and represent a potential 5th column in Europe. Then with nothing better to do, procreating is a fruitful option especially if countries turn a blind eye to polygamy and other "cultural abnormalities".
This could turn out very badly

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David Fanshaw

Robert Valence • Oct 7, 2018 at 11:56

Exactly. Just look at some of the suburbs of Paris and Brussels etc., where second generation families live. Still not integrated and never will. It is exactly why they will forever be in that rut. And that too is why there is so much anger among them when they see others with wealth and wonder why they can't have it too. Germany will eventually see this too but, unlike those two countries, all over the country as Merkel has imposed them on every single town and village.

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Henry • Oct 6, 2018 at 18:04

This is called pure hypocrisy if hypocrisy can be called "pure". Frau Merkel and her socialist government knew very well who they were importing into the country. The unskilled, uneducated third world. The majority of Muslim migrants have been arriving for free handouts, i.e. to milk the welfare system they have heard so much about. How can they be now surprised? The damage is done and whatever Germany pretends to do now to remedy the problem is just masking it. It seems that Alternative for Germany is the only chance to save this country from itself.

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David Fanshaw

Henry • Oct 7, 2018 at 12:03

If Merkel had any sense she would re-allocate the tens of billions she is spending on them to create new infrastructure and provide subsidies in the places they left and refuse all permanent residency in Germany. But then her plan all along was nothing to do with helping desperate Syrians but to begin a vast social experiment involving the whole of Arabia and Africa to change the face of Europe forever.

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Marek Eyal • Oct 6, 2018 at 16:24

Poles are a subject of jokes in Germany, however their solution to population decline is much better than this conceived by "clever" Germans: They invite millions of Ukrainians to the path of citizenship and in parallel promote higher fertility of Poles by financial rewards for each newborn. Last I heard it was some 500 zloty, about 120 EURO. The Ukrainians come from similar culture and accommodate quickly. Both remedies nearly make up for population decline.

One may ask what is better, 120 EURO spent on a child born to native parents, or almost a million EURO spent on underqualified Muslim from Afghanistan ( whose children will be most probably german-speaking islamists).

So who is idiot here? Germans or Poles?

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Frank • Oct 6, 2018 at 15:02

Selective immigration is a false good idea. When skilled workers immigrate from underdeveloped countries, the countries they leave lose precious resources, thus accentuating their underdevelopment. This, in turn, will create more incentives for unskilled locals to migrate, eventually bringing them to Europe and North America.

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Chuck

Frank • Oct 6, 2018 at 15:47

No offense but you and others here commenting about the siphoning off of skilled people from the Third World misses the key point that there are very, very few skilled people for those places to lose out of the millions that are emigrating from their personal Hell. The US has tried, mostly in vain, to educate doctors and engineers from the desperate parts of the world in our universities, only to have them remain or return to the USA to enjoy the "good life", and no, you can't really blame them. But note that the US had to educate the high performers as young students, not import them.

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Bisley • Oct 6, 2018 at 13:57

Imported labor (skilled, or unskilled) is not the answer to any country's economic problems -- more efficient use of the existing population is. Every additional person is a drain on the economy until they produce more than they consume (food, clothing, housing, energy, medical services, transportation, eventual retirement benefits, public services, etc.), and very few immigrants, and far too few of the existing populations meet this standard. However many people there are in a country have to produce enough to fulfill the needs of that many people before there is any surplus that could be called economic improvement -- increasing the number of people without increasing productivity beyond the cost of everything they consume is a net loss to the economy, rather than a gain. Hiring foreign workers may result in increased profit for the company that hires them, but the real test is whether they produce enough to cover all the unseen costs of having them in the country, and are really an asset, rather than an unnecessary expense.

The problem here is how many people are on the dole, pensioned off for some supposed disability that doesn't prevent them from doing whatever they like aside from work, working at unnecessary, overpaid government jobs that pull money out of the productive sector instead of adding to it, retired early at the public's expense, are priced out of the labor market by minimum wage laws that require paying more than they're worth, kept from working by laws pandering to labor unions, etc. There are great numbers of people in all modern socialist welfare states who should be working to support themselves and adding to their country's productivity, but aren't. The answer to the labor shortage, if there is a labor shortage, is to reform government and its welfare system, end the laws pandering to labor unions, select industries, and government employees, and deport all foreigners who aren't totally self-supporting -- everyone who is able to work should have to work and keep themselves, and there should be no legal obstacles in the way of anyone who wants to work, or go into business and provide work for others. What's needed is a free market, rather than government control -- and an end to welfare systems that make it possible to live comfortably without working. Any job should be an improvement over none, and living at the public's expense should be uncomfortable enough that people will want to work to escape it. More people are not needed -- more productive people are needed. They have to make better use of what they have by making it necessary for all who can to keep themselves.

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Jayson • Oct 6, 2018 at 12:36

This is absurd and the standard lie that these leftist, globalist, new world order, open borders people constantly lie about and no one challenges them.

They don't need to import hundreds of thousands of people from Africa and Asia and the Middle East, there are millions of young Europeans, especially in Spain, Italy, and other EU countries who cannot find jobs because the unemployment rate is so high. These young people need to be imported to the places in Europe where job seekers are needed. And these are people who share similar values and cultures.

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Mitch Marich

Jayson • Oct 6, 2018 at 15:39

You have the great positive solution. Eastern Europeans are also a better cultural fit. Removing talent and brains from 3rd world countries does not help them advance, as others here have pointed out.

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Robert Valence

Jayson • Oct 6, 2018 at 15:43

I agree completely. It's an absolute disgrace that Germany didn't offer to recruit fellow Europeans who were on their doorstep, similar culture and a European level of education - & unemployed. It makes a nonsense of the desire by the Eurocrats for a Euro super-state - when instead Germany preferred an untrained, uneducated mob.

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VarAway • Oct 6, 2018 at 11:24

Don't tell me the Germans are that stupid to believe, like the Dutch politicians were saying, they needed those migrants because the were all highly qualified dentists, engineers, rocket scientists ( I kid you not ) pharmacists etc.

While in fact after they were 1 year in the Netherlands only about 8% were " employed "...

And this " employment " meant they were doing volunteer " work " for an average of 12 hours per week.

Like teaching their compatriots bicycle riding, translating basic information pamphlets for their analphabetic countrymen/women.

Nobody pays taxes, as they " earn " well below the minimum income.

Now the taxpayers are facing the burden of additional social welfare costs.

Close those open borders NOW!

Thank you Viktor Orban.

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Chuck • Oct 6, 2018 at 11:16

Are the Germans really so stupid as to think the Third World refugees from areas where people defecate in the streets or a ditch would arrive with any skills whatsoever; IT skills, machinist skills, or even rudimentary social skills?

How many educated people who maybe had German language credits in college and are reading this article can properly say "Fachkräftezuwanderungsgesetz"?

Those poor devils grew up seeing German-Turks of 30 years ago returning "home" for their holiday in their Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs and naturally wanted a piece of that action...similar to the invasion of the USA from the south. "Jack" is out of his box now.

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tedh754 • Oct 6, 2018 at 11:08

If the highly-skilled native Germans are smart, they'll get out of that doomed country.

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Frances Weingarten • Oct 6, 2018 at 10:50

Angela Merkel was remiss in bringing so vast a number of immigrants into Germany without any knowledge of who they were, what skills they had and whether or not they were were suitable people to be brought to Germany.

Such foolishness rarely has a positive outcome, as Germans well know!

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David Fanshaw • Oct 6, 2018 at 10:41

So the mass influx didn't bring the doctors, surgeons, engineers etc., not only Merkel but other leaders tried to con people into thinking would enrich our lives? If you live in Britain you might be familiar with the Channel 4 propaganda posing as station idents featuring a figure at the cliffs of Dover welcoming such professionals because that is what people are being fed - in massive does - around Europe and with clampdowns on free speech to prevent objection to this social experiment.

As for quotes of 1 million, try many millions across the EU in less than three years, probably to be doubled once leaders give in to demands to bring in families (you know, the ones who found it too dangerous to leave at the time). Then multiply again when nature takes its course.

That only a quarter of those who arrived have jobs and of those only a fifth are paying in does not surprise me yet when I talk to those involved in teaching them you get a different story of how wonderful they are and that the majority get jobs. Propaganda again - thankfully disproven by the official Institute for Employment Research. As for jobs, many are not real jobs but ones specially created. And I am pretty sure that some are being employed in work Germans have to gain qualifications for. Not so long ago my hair was cut by a grossly incompetent "young man" at the local barber's shop. It was so very obvious he had never done such work before.

Yes, Germany now needs trained professionals - especially extra doctors and teachers to cope with...the huge increase in population Merkel has caused. And where will these extra professionals be recruited from I wonder? From the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia...perhaps even Japan...to balance the shift that Merkel is creating in society? I am not holding my breath.

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R V Smith • Oct 6, 2018 at 10:18

How about encourage your own natives to have kids and educate them rather than trying to assimilate the unassimilatlable...and destroying your country and your culture.

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william carr • Oct 6, 2018 at 10:10

"We need the brightest brains from all over the world."

Does nobody else see the immorality of this policy. How are developing nations ever to grow their economies and provide better conditions for their citizens if the rich nations keep poaching their best people. Germany did not gain economic supremacy by sending its best people to work in other countries as far as I know. The brightest brains of the less developed nations are needed in those nations.

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Alan Canter • Oct 6, 2018 at 09:48

This analysis by Kern omits the central conundrum which, sadly, is rarely addressed. When birthrates fall in developed economies and those economies react by relaxing immigration especially for the highly qualified, the effect is to strip out from the less developed world the very people needed to improve the conditions in poor countries so that the relatively unskilled can have a future. This leads to further emigration pressure. The process is fundamentally immoral and could be regarded as the last and ruthless sting in the tail of colonialism. The West grabbed their natural resources, now they plan to finish the job by pinching their best people.

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CeCelia Squires • Oct 6, 2018 at 09:19

It never occurred to the leaders of Germany to ban abortion and encourage young people to marry and have kids! Instead, they have flooded the country with uneducated thugs, rapists and welfare drainers! Plus, they are and will forever be Muslims, never European! How is replacing the German population with a foreign people/religion a plus for Germany?

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Walter • Oct 6, 2018 at 07:39

When in 2015 the illegal alien crisis started in Germany, sweet Angela justified the invasion by pointing to the severe shortage of skilled labor and in particular of highly qualified specialists like engineers, physicians, IT-specialists etc.

Obviously she was not familiar with the statistics or deliberately ignored the fact that 80% of the 50 million Arabs/Muslims living in central Europe live on government handouts even after having spent many years in Europe.

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Jeff Page • Oct 6, 2018 at 07:22

This is a complete turnabout and hopefully will put an end to the lies and deceit committed by the media reporters who were telling the world that many of the immigrants were in fact highly educated and eager to work. The truth has at last been admitted although grudgingly so. After a few years have passed the reality of Merkel's open door policy is revealed warts and all! The next revelation will be the admission that Germany has a very real and genuinely frightening problem with the Muslim faith. Integration, as we would like it to be, is just not going to happen where Muslims are concerned. The faith demands loyalty to Islam and any person attempting to marry outside the faith or even to leave Islam will suffer dire consequences. This behaviour is not acceptable in European society and therefore we should not tolerate such bigotted cultural beliefs.

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neumann michael • Oct 6, 2018 at 06:22

So according to this issue, the next German generations will support elder germans + "refugees". A very clever business indeed.

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rw • Oct 6, 2018 at 05:47

The small fly in the German ointment is that no one would wish to go to Germany now. I met a German tourist recently here in Australia who told me that her hometown of Nuremberg is like a war zone. Perhaps she was exaggerating, but the fact that such a statement could be made is enough.

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Albert Reingewirtz • Oct 6, 2018 at 05:40

Too late, too little! E.U. Your goose is cooked already. The national anthems will be from now on waking you all up when it is still dark outside. It is called the Adhan from loudspeakers on top of the many mosques to be build soon all over the E.U. Bye Bye!

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David Ashton

Albert Reingewirtz • Oct 6, 2018 at 18:23

Albert, your middle name is Schadenfreude.

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Henry

David Ashton • Oct 6, 2018 at 18:47

David, maybe you are right but I'd agree with Albert. Germany has created the stream of aliens not just as a "gift" for itself but as a major contribution to the distraction of the western culture. I feel no pity for this nation.

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