Labor market: Almost every fourth geriatric nurse comes from abroad

Almost every fourth caregiver in a German old people’s home comes from abroad, according to the Federal Employment Agency. “The nursing industry suffers from a serious shortage of skilled workers who are demographically further exhilarating,” said Vanessa Ahuja in Nuremberg. Without foreign nurses, the industry would already collapse, she said.

According to the Federal Agency, the number of employees in the nursing industry has grown by a good 20 percent to 1.72 million in the past ten years – and thus significantly stronger than in the entire labor market. For the third year in a row, the increase in employment in nursing was therefore based solely on foreign employees. 18 percent of the employees have now come from abroad.

Many nurses work part -time

According to the Federal Agency, fewer and fewer nurses from the European Economic Area and Switzerland come to Germany – in 2024 there were 3,000 employees. From outside of these countries, 13,000 employees were added in the same period to get a residence and work permit in this country through the specialist immigration law.

According to the Federal Agency, around half of the nursing staff worked part -time last year – compared to all employees, it was around a third. According to the experts, this is not just due to the high proportion of women, which is around 80 percent in care. Almost a third of the men were part -time in the industry. It was 13 percent for all men who are subject to social security contributions.