Germany Introduces ‘Green Card’ To Bolster Workforce

Germany is planning to roll out its version of ‘green card’ in a bid to mitigate its critical shortage of skilled labor. The move comes as a boon to the non-European Nationals as it will be easier for them to find work in the country.

According to German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, foreign jobseekers looking to work in Germany will get a chance to look for a job in the country as long as they comply with at least three out of the four set requirements.

The requirements demand that a foreign job seeker looking to work in Germany should be a university degree holder or have professional experience of at least three years. He/she must be below the age of 35 years and must possess Language skills or previous residence in Germany.

The criteria are similar to those used in Canada though has a more complex weight system and will have limits and conditions. The limits will vary on a year-to-year basis depending on demand in the labor market.

The move was hailed by some analysts while others criticized it citing a more complicated system.

‘’It’s setting up unnecessarily high hurdles and makes the system more complicated. Why don’t they make it much simpler? Give people a visa to look for work, and if they don’t find anything within a certain amount of time they have to leave. “To add extra points to that just makes it more complicated — if these criteria are important to employers, they can decide that during the recruitment. They won’t need a card as a pre-selection,” said Holger Bonin, research director at theInstitute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn.

Germany has been experiencing a lack of skilled labor for some time. This has been fueled by the fact that the German language is less universally spoken. Sources reveal that production in most of the companies in the country is curtailed by a lack of staff.

According to the Central Association for Skilled Crafts in Germany ZDH), the country is missing around 250,000 skilled workforce.

In recent years the government has initiated some measures to plug its worker gap. In 2020, the German government eased some immigration laws to help attract workers. The federal Employment Agency says that German needs around 400,000 new workers every year to bridge the labor deficit.

The health sector, social services, teaching, education, construction, architecture, engineering, surveying, and building services have been the worst hit by the labor shortage. Restaurants, cafes, and bar owners are also struggling to fill positions.

The hospitality jobs are said to be less attractive in Germany due to their nature. This includes long hours, anti-social times of work, unstable contracts, and lower pay.

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