Germany has been recruiting Indian skilled workers for some time. Labor Minister Heil was in India himself about a year ago. He has now announced a new strategy.
The federal government wants to recruit skilled workers from India on a large scale by making concrete concessions. To this end, an India skilled worker strategy is to be presented at the German-Indian government consultations in the autumn, as Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) announced after a meeting with Indian students at the Free University of Berlin.
“This skilled labor strategy is being developed jointly with the Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Labor, with German business, with the states, and with other ministries,” said Heil. The aim is to send a “clear signal to India that bright minds and helping hands are welcome in Germany.”
Heil emphasizes importance of India
“We want to show how it works in one country, in a large country,” said the labor minister. “How we deal with the acceleration of visa issuance, how we deal with the question of recruitment in various areas, what tasks the economy has, what initiatives the various federal states have.” All of this should be bundled together.
“India is an important country because it not only has the largest population in the world, but also because 1.5 million additional people enter the Indian labor market every month,” Heil stressed. There are many young people there.
German labor market needs skilled workers
During the exchange with Indian students, Heil emphasized that the German labor market is facing major challenges due to the country’s demographic structure. Germany will need seven million skilled workers by 2035 to meet demand, said the SPD politician, citing a study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).
In their conversation with the Minister of Labor, the students cited the German health system, opportunities for a better salary and the quality of life and air as advantages of Germany. However, several doctoral students also expressed their concern about prospects in science in this country, which they perceive as uncertain. Bureaucracy and the state of digitalization were also cited as disadvantages.
Source: Stern
