In Germany there could soon be a shortage of millions of workers. The Federal Employment Agency wants to take countermeasures above all with further training – but certainly also with immigration.
In the fight against the blatant shortage of skilled workers on the German labor market, experts believe that as many people as possible must be kept in working life – including those with fewer qualifications.
“It is important that we win as many potential workers in Germany as possible and certainly not lose anyone,” said the chairman of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, of the German press agency. In the future, just as many new jobs would be created as automation and transformation processes would eliminate – albeit with a different requirement profile.
Those people who are threatened with unemployment due to the loss of low-skilled jobs should by no means retire from working life, said Scheele. “You have to train them,” he emphasized. The Federal Agency has around 900 million euros in the fund for the further training of employees for the year 2022. “They should be used because the money is used to cope with structural change, the transformation and to keep people in work,” said Scheele.
Above all, employers are also called upon because they have to define where the qualification should go. The Federal Agency sees it as one of its main tasks for the next ten years to take on the role of moderator. “How do you get from company A to company B?” Is how Scheele described the core problem. There are already model tests with industry and craft. “We are learning to be the hub in the transformation,” said Scheele.
According to Scheele, the number of economically active persons in Germany who are subject to social insurance contributions is already at a record high at 34.3 million. The Federal Employment Agency assumes that – without any countermeasures – there would be a shortage of seven million workers in Germany by 2035.
That is why it is necessary to bring skilled workers from abroad inside and outside the EU to Germany – for example, people from countries like Colombia, Mexico or Indonesia come to care. These people from the EU and from third countries are urgently needed in Germany. If they did not come in sufficient numbers, Germany could face a growth problem. A lack of immigration could itself act as a brake on growth.
Scheel’s colleague on the board of directors at the Federal Employment Agency, Daniel Terzenbach, told “Zeit Online” that immigration needed a real welcoming culture in Germany. The Federal Republic is in massive competition for workers from all over the world with the Anglo-Saxon countries but also with nations like Japan. In addition, an increasing number of workers – for example from Poland – who had worked in Germany for a while, were going home again. Countries such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria have now organized targeted return campaigns.
“We need a targeted immigration policy,” said Terzenbach. “That is why we have to search all over the world.” The domestic potential is insufficient. Despite all efforts, the one million long-term unemployed in Germany could not be fully brought back into the labor market.
BA CEO Schelle emphasized that at least an attempt had to be made to bring as large a part as possible back into the work process. The extension of the participation opportunities law included in the coalition agreement of the new federal government was the right step, said Scheele. Due to the expiry of the law, substantial subsidies for the employment of the long-term unemployed can flow longer.
Source From: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
