Germany is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers — from nurses to IT specialists. However, Germany is also struggling with major political challenges.
In a classroom in Chennai, India, around 20 nurses are learning German at a rapid pace. They have six months to master the language so they can work in Germany.
Ramalakshi, one of the trainees, says it was not easy for her family to afford the thousands of euros required for her nursing education. Now, she feels a strong need to repay that investment.
“My goal is to work abroad. I want to secure financial stability for my family and build a house for myself,” she told DW.
The government of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is funding language courses to reduce unemployment and give disadvantaged families a chance in the global labor market. Private agencies then connect Indian nurses with potential employers in Germany.
Hundreds of Thousands of Skilled Workers Needed
Germany is desperately searching for skilled workers as the so-called “baby boomer” generation retires in the coming years, while birth rates remain low.
Hospitals are short of nurses, schools lack teachers, and the IT sector is seeking programmers.
Economists at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg estimate that Germany needs to attract 300,000 skilled workers every year just to maintain the status quo.
Without them, Germans would have to work longer, retire later — or simply become poorer, IAB researcher Michael Oberfichter told DW.
Refugees as Skilled Workers
According to the latest figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, around 160,000 foreign nationals with residence permits are registered as skilled workers.
At the same time, the office is responsible for processing asylum applications from millions of refugees who have arrived in Germany in recent years due to wars and conflicts such as those in Syria and Ukraine. Due to a lack of digitalization, German bureaucracy remains slow.
The sharp increase in refugee numbers and the government’s failure to integrate them into the labor market have fueled growing dissatisfaction with migration policies and increased support for the far-right, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The Role of “Guest Workers”
After World War II, Germany experienced an economic boom often referred to as the “economic miracle.”
During the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, the economy grew so rapidly that the young democracy needed workers from abroad.
Germany signed official labor recruitment agreements with countries such as Italy, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia to ensure a steady flow of workers.
By 1973, when the policy was gradually phased out, around 14 million people had come to work in Germany. They were called “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers) because the government assumed they would return home after a few years. However, many stayed and built their lives in Germany.
Bureaucratic Barriers
Despite the demand for workers, migrants today face numerous obstacles in the labor market. After graduating from a German university, Zara from Iran was initially not allowed to work.
“It took almost a year until I got an appointment to change my student visa into a work visa,” she told DW.
Zara speaks fluent German, teaches at universities and conducts academic research. Nevertheless, after more than six years in the country, she still has not received a permanent work permit and must inform authorities every time she changes jobs.
“Sometimes I ask myself: do I really want to live here?” she says, wondering whether she should have gone to Canada like some of her friends, who have since obtained Canadian citizenship. “I still have to go through all this after six and a half years.”
Cologne-based immigration lawyer Björn Maibaum says Zara’s case is not unique.
“Unfortunately, it’s the same across Germany,” he told DW.
His office handles around 2,000 such cases a year, trying to speed up procedures. Clients include “doctors, nurses, engineers and truck drivers.”
The main problem, he says, is that immigration authorities are understaffed, leaving applicants waiting “for months or even a year.”
“It’s simply frustrating. And this is not the message we want to send to the world. We are competing for workers.”
Attitudes Toward Foreigners as a Problem
Kayalvli Rajavil visits patients at the BDH Clinic in Vallendar, which specializes in neurobiological rehabilitation.
Rajavil has been in Germany for only a few months. “The German language was particularly difficult for me at first. But my supervisor and colleagues have been very supportive — they respect us,” she told DW.
She is one of about 40 nurses from India and Sri Lanka hired in recent years — mainly through agencies that charge clinics between €7,000 and €12,000 per successful placement.
Jörg Bibrak, head of nursing staff, says that for Indian nationals wanting to work in Germany, a major issue is attitudes toward foreigners, especially racist incidents.
“We are increasingly being asked about political developments, including different political parties,” he told DW, adding that it is becoming harder to make new foreign employees feel welcome.
Homesickness, family problems and adapting to a new culture are additional challenges that often prevent foreign workers from staying beyond the typical two-year contract.
How Can the Process Be Accelerated?
To remain competitive in the global race for nurses from India, the BDH Clinic is now offering a vocational training program for young Indians who have just finished high school.
This would speed up recruitment — which usually takes up to nine months — and avoid the complex recognition of foreign qualifications, further complicated by differing regulations across Germany’s 16 federal states.
Bibrak believes migration services need to be “much faster” and laws more flexible to make Germany “more attractive” to young talent.
“Everyone says we need skilled workers. But we are still far from a welcoming culture where everything runs smoothly.” (DW)