So Heil now wants to attract skilled workers to Germany

While representatives of the municipal umbrella organizations who had traveled from all over Germany to the Berlin government district complained to the Interior Minister about the problems with accommodating refugees, Hubertus Heil said a remarkable sentence a few kilometers to the north: "Under the grand coalition, qualified immigration was only possible with hesitation. We have to scale that up,” announced the Federal Minister of Labor on the factory premises of K. Rogge Spezialbau, a workshop near the disused Tegel Airport.

This sentence is not only remarkable because of the refugee summit taking place at the same time by Heil's party colleague Nancy Faeser. In fact, there are currently two ever-increasing extremes when migrating to Germany.

On the same morning, the Organization for Economic Cooperation had calculated that the Ukraine war would probably result in the year with the highest number of immigrants since reunification. The number of immigrants from Ukraine, but also from other countries, is expected to be higher by the end of the year than in 2015.

On the other hand, Germany is well below its own target when it comes to those who immigrate specifically as skilled workers - not because they are fleeing wars, but to fill vacancies for which there is a lack of qualified personnel in this country.

It should actually be at least 400,000 people per year in order to at least partially fill the ever-growing gaps in the labor market. Immigration is necessary "in order not to let the shortage of skilled workers become a permanent brake on growth," warns Heil. The Federal Employment Agency (BA) also follows this specification.

Their new boss Andrea Nahles has also come to the Berlin industrial area for the on-site visit. She is not only a party member and companion of Heil, but also his predecessor as a former labor minister. The SPD duo is guided through the factory halls by Rogge Managing Director Klaus-Dieter Müller and also speaks to three trainees from the company, two of whom come from Syria and Lebanon.

“Without immigration, our labor force potential would drop by seven million people by 2035. It is important to simplify the immigration of skilled workers and to overcome bureaucratic hurdles,” says Nahles. And the date was not chosen by chance. In a few days, the cabinet is to vote on a corresponding draft law.

Germany will have to pull out all the stops to secure skilled workers, says Heil. "This applies to training, further education, the participation of women in the labor market and also the necessary qualified immigration." The latter is sometimes the most important but also the most controversial point. According to the will of the traffic light, immigration law should be fundamentally reformed.

On the one hand, there is the “opportunity card”, as the government calls it, which aims to attract people with the appropriate qualifications who are already applying abroad for one of the many vacancies in Germany. This would also open up the labor market for foreign skilled workers who do not yet have a degree recognized in Germany. They are supposed to make up for it with the help of a German employer who signs a contract with them and is also supposed to pay part of the language courses.

Unlike before, proof of qualifications and professional experience abroad should suffice for entry. The recognition procedure should then be processed after entry - but while the person is already working.

This model is based at least in part on Canada, which many consider to be a role model for its successful labor market policy. And although the SPD ministers Heil and Faeser in particular are promoting the reform, the FDP had already tried to establish a similar point system during the black-yellow coalition – at the time in vain.

But it's not just about targeted recruitment from abroad. The legal reform cannot be viewed separately from the refugee movements of recent years. In this way, those who came from Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq in 2015, for example, should also have new opportunities. Because anyone who has been living in Germany for at least five years as of January 1, 2022 should be allowed to stay and work. This probably affects more than 135,000 people.

"The federal government has recognized the need for reform and the need to further develop the Skilled Immigration Act," says Peter Adrian, President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). Although the law introduced in 2020 provided “a lot of real impetus”, the processes took far too long. The cooperation between the many actors at home and abroad "does not always work smoothly".

In general, the voices of the German economy regarding the reform of the law are predominantly benevolent. Klaus-Dieter Müller also sees the need for more immigration. Almost 20 trainees are currently working at the Rogge company. "I could easily set twice the number," says the managing director of Nahles und Heil.

But the interest among school leavers is just too low for that. The head of the BA, on the other hand, sees potential here: "75,000 young people are undersupplied," she says. That's how high the number of school leavers who have not started their training or studies this year.

In addition to classic training occupations, the shortage of highly qualified jobs is also getting bigger rather than smaller. Because the professional recognition of foreign qualifications or diplomas takes a particularly long time here, the reformed immigration law is intended to remedy the situation.

The opposition has received both encouragement and fierce criticism. "Of course, I welcome the approach of breaking with the system of chain toleration and giving those affected a perspective for a long-term stay," says Gökay Akbulut, migration policy spokeswoman for the Left Party to WELT.

What is meant are proofs of registration, from which no residence status is based, but also no direct deportation. "The draft law ignores the fact that there are many people who are unable to prove their identity, such as people from Somalia, whose identity papers are generally not recognized in Germany," says Akbulut.

In fact, authorities mostly do not recognize Somali documents issued after 1991. This is an almost insurmountable hurdle for naturalization. In addition, projects that were still in the coalition agreement have now been cleared, says Akbulut. For example, the abolition of the ban on working, or the language requirements for spouses.

The Union, in turn, sees an "implementation problem, not a knowledge problem" in the immigration of skilled workers. "I don't see how the traffic light with its proposals will remedy the shortage of skilled workers in the foreseeable future," says Marc Biadacz, CDU chairman in the Committee for Labor and Social Affairs to WELT.

A points system based on the Canadian model is not a solution, as it would only create new bureaucracy. Instead, it is necessary to speed up and digitize existing procedures for the recognition and application of visas.

Klaus-Dieter Müller also reports on paralyzing bureaucracy at the on-site visit in Berlin. In the case of his trainees from Syria and Lebanon, it took almost two years for the authorities to recognize their certificates – the school certificates, mind you. Some things have to change, says the company boss. Andrea Nahles laughs and replies with a friendly: "Understood."

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