Ageing population, labour crunch prompt Germany to open doors for skilled migration

Faced with an ageing population and growing labour shortage, Germany — Europe’s largest economy — is turning towards other countries, including India which German officials call “the world’s largest labour pool”, for skilled workers.

Germany needs around 4,00,000 new workers every year to meet future demand for skilled labour, according to the Labour Ministry. The demand is particularly high in nursing, education, IT, gastronomy and hospitality sectors, and it will remain high, according to official estimates, at least until mid-2060s.

Last year, Germany passed a new Skilled Immigration Act, laying “the foundation for making Germany a more attractive destination for professionals from abroad”. Germany also introduced an Opportunity Card that enables foreign applicants to reside in the country for up to a year while searching for employment.

‘Indians are welcome’

“India for us is the most important country of origin. You are priority number 1. India is the only country for whom we have a skilled labour strategy from the federal government because we know of the great opportunities the Indian labour market offers for German employers,” Clemens Kohnen, special envoy for skilled labour migration, told The Hindu at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

Speaking at the Brandt Hall (named after the former Foreign Minister and Chancellor Willy Brandt) at the Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) here, Mr. Kohnen said Germany was looking at different labour fields in India. “A lot of people come from the health sector such as nurses, caretakers and doctors, of course. Science, mathematics, and IT are other fields. Down the road, we would import skilled labour from India in almost every field. We also welcome Indian students, who are the biggest pool of foreign students in Germany from outside the EU.”

There are more than 40,000 Indian students in Germany today, and the numbers are going up every year. According to Mr. Kohnen, the retention rate of Indian students is one of the highest among foreign students coming to Germany.

“This means a lot of Indian Indian students who come to Germany stay on for a job. We greatly welcome that. The benefit with Indian students is that they are very good at learning our language. Experience shows us that if you are coming from India, you find it easier to learn the difficult German language. This makes it easier to integrate into the job market.”

According to the Federal Labour Ministry, some 1,37,000 Indians were employed in skilled labour positions in February 2024, that is roughly 23,000 more than the year before. In 2015, the number of Indians in such jobs was just 23,000 in total. Current numbers also show that joblessness among Indians living in Germany is only 3.7%, while the overall unemployment rate of the country is 6.3%.

War, recession and the far-right

But Germany’s immigration story is not one without challenges. Despite the government’s efforts to make skilled migration attractive, the German bureaucracy could delay the whole process, say officials and industry representatives. Besides, Germany is currently in an economic recession, and Russia’s war in Ukraine and the subsequent economic decoupling between Europe and Russia have worsened Berlin’s economic pain. In recent years, Germany has also witnessed the rise of far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). In the February 2025 election, the AfD emerged as the second largest party with 20.8% votes, up from 10.4% in the previous election. What do all these mean for skilled migration?

“German immigration is complex. We need to change it. There is still Red Tape,” said Lorenz Lauer of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). “But Germany is witnessing demographic shifts. Too many people are getting old. We need young people in the economy. We need skilled labour to fill the vacancies,” he added.

Asked about the impact of the Ukraine war and recession on job markets, Mr. Lauer said, “Energy prices in Germany were high even before the war. After the war, it skyrocketed. But it has stabilised now. However, energy-dependent industries have taken a hit. Many jobs have been lost in the industrial sector. But other industries have expanded.”

Another DIHK official said: “Despite the economic recession, if one looks at the situation from a demographic point of view, we still need workers, especially in the healthcare sector.”

Consensus on skilled migration

Officials from the Foreign Office agree that the rise of the AfD party is a cause of concern. However, they argue that even the AfD recognises the necessity for skilled labour as the economic and demographic situation in Germany demands more skilled workers.

“We are very concerned about the rise of the far-right AfD in Germany. They have a clear anti-immigrant agenda. At the same time they are not in government — they are not in government at the federal level, they are not in government at any of the 16 States, and I find it hard to imagine that we are moving towards a future where they are suddenly in a position to make decisions,” said Mr. Kohnen, of the Foreign Office.

“One of the big concerns of the far-right is illegal migration, which we have to address. We feel that the past government (of Olaf Scholz) and also the new government (of Frederik Merz) have put a very strong emphasis in fighting illegal migration, fighting in particular trafficking, and returning people who are here without legal status — meaning, we want to control the migration, but also want to welcome with open arms skilled labour migration,” he added.

According to Jens Michael Bopp, head of skilled labour migration at the Foreign Office, the political debate on migration in Germany is about illegal migration, not skilled migration. “Skilled migration is not considered migration in German political debate. When politicians oppose migration, they refer to illegal migration. We differentiate between skilled migration and illegal migration,” he said. “In the election programme, all parties, including the AfD, acknowledge that Germany needs skilled workers. We do not expect this situation to change any time in the future,” Mr. Bopp added.

The writer was in Berlin at an invitation from the German Federal Office. 

Published – July 04, 2025 03:03 pm IST