Germany is recruiting skilled workers abroad. They often have a positive idea of the Federal Republic. But a new study also shows where the problem is.
Before moving to Germany, international skilled workers would like more support when looking for work, learning German and looking for an apartment.
Many people also find the application process for issuing a visa to be too complicated. This was the result of a study published in Berlin by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labor.
58 percent of around 1,000 interested parties surveyed who were still abroad and were thinking about moving to Germany agreed with the statement that it is important to be able to speak German in everyday life. 55 percent believe that Germany has a real interest in attracting foreign skilled workers. 49 percent see Germany as a country that welcomes immigrants.
Experiences of discrimination among newcomers
However, among those who have already moved here, the image of Germany has become clouded: more than half of those surveyed (52 percent) answered the question in the affirmative that they had been discriminated against because of their origin when looking for an apartment or house. 37 percent reported discrimination in stores or restaurants. However, the number of respondents to this aspect of the study is small with 289 participants.
For the study, international specialists who are interested in Germany were surveyed in three periods since August 2022. At the beginning there were around 28,900 people. In the final survey at the end of 2023, there were still 6,275 participants, of which, according to study leader Thomas Liebig, 427 actually made it to Germany.
Fabian Langenbruch, who is responsible for securing skilled workers in the Federal Ministry of Labor, said that the study shows that the desire and motivation to come to Germany is strong abroad. The new skilled worker immigration law needs to be made even more widely known. He described the experiences of discrimination mentioned as “almost shocking”. That is bad, not only for the people themselves, but also for Germany and the local economy.
Source: Stern
