German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann revealed Deutschland’s plan to increase the number of visas given to skilled Indians from the current 20,000 to 90,000 amid the worsening labor crisis.
Germany extends visa program for skilled Indian workers to address labor shortage
“As Germany faces a growing labor shortage, these visas will help fill the gap in sectors such as information technology, nursing and care,” he said.
Germany, one of the strongest economies in the European Union, currently finds itself in crisis due to increasing pressure to secure skilled labor to maintain economic growth.
German Labor Minister, Hubertus Heil, said that “Germany sees India as a particularly important partner when it comes to the issue of skilled labor migration”.
In addition to this approval, the cabinet of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz approved a series of new migration measures.
Germany had been trying to work on reducing visa approval times and finally on Wednesday, October 16, the German government allowed it Green signal given to 30 new migration measures This includes digitalization of visas by the end of 2024, to reduce the waiting time for visa approval.
Germany has already reduced visa processing time to 2 weeks from the previous period of nine months and this is expected to benefit 400,000 skilled workers.
In addition to all the above efforts, the Federal Labor Office of Germany is currently reaching out to Indian students in Germany to help them find employment opportunities.
Furthermore, the language barrier issue for Indian immigrants is also being eliminated by the country by providing German language classes for workers wishing to relocate to the country.
All these efforts are certainly in line with the country’s plans to attract skilled workers and fill critical workforce gaps.
Germany faces labor crisis despite low unemployment rate and abundant job opportunities
Notably, according to Statista, Germany has the second lowest unemployment rate among all G7 countries, but despite this figure the country alone has 701,490 vacant positions in 2024.
The birth rate declined to -6.2% in 2023, with 20% of Germans now over the age of 65, reflecting the fact that the country’s current working-age population is able to fill this gap, ultimately reducing the country’s labor force. A crisis has arisen.
