Indians in Germany work more often than average in academic MINT professions.
(Photo: imago / Science Photo Library)
Berlin The shortage of skilled workers in scientific and technical professions has led to an increased immigration of Indians to Germany. And thanks to their expertise, they are also among the top earners in this country. For example, the mean gross monthly wage (median) of Indians in a full-time job subject to social insurance is EUR 4824, almost EUR 1300 above the corresponding comparison value for Germans of EUR 3541.
This is shown in a new short report from the employer-related Institute of the German Economy (IW), which has evaluated data from the employment statistics of the Federal Employment Agency (BA). The high earnings of the Indians can be attributed to the fact that they work more than average in the so-called MINT professions, which require a scientific-technical degree.
In view of the shortage of IT specialists, the federal government introduced a green card regulation for foreign computer specialists that was limited to 2004. Since 2012, the so-called EU Blue Card has also been in effect in this country, which enables highly qualified people from third countries to migrate to the European Union for gainful employment.
Since then, immigrants from third countries have made a major contribution to securing skilled workers, especially in the scientific and technical field. While around 30,300 people from outside the EU were working in an academic MINT occupation at the end of 2012, according to the IW study in March of this year, the figure was a good 89,700 – an increase of 196 percent.
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IW researcher Axel Plünnecke shows that the number of Indians who are subject to social security contributions in the relevant professions has almost quintupled in the same period from 3750 to around 18,600. Of the full-time Indians between the ages of 25 and 44, a good third (36.2 percent) works in an academic MINT occupation.
High income hurdles for the Blue Card
For the Chinese of the same age group, the proportion is significantly lower at 25.7 percent, for the Brazilians it is 23.3 percent. Among the 25 to 44-year-old EU citizens, the proportion of employees in academic MINT professions is high, especially among the Spanish (17.2 percent) and French (16.9 percent).
The high STEM rate among Indians is one reason that they earn the best of all full-time employees subject to social security contributions. Their median wage of 4824 euros is almost twice as high as the total for foreigners (2638 euros) and significantly higher than, for example, for Americans (4468 euros) or Brazilians (4094 euros).
However, according to the EU Blue Card, highly qualified people from third countries are only allowed to enter if they have a gross annual salary of at least 56,800 euros in their job; for shortage occupations, the earnings threshold is lower at 44,304 euros. With the Skilled Workers Immigration Act, which came into force in March 2020, the Federal Government has further facilitated immigration, especially for professionally qualified foreigners and IT specialists, even without formal qualifications.
According to the IW study, Indians aged 25 to 44 earn an average of 5,276 euros in the academic MINT professions, which means that half earn less, the other half more. Their median wages are thus just above that of Germans (5207 euros), but lower than, for example, for US citizens (5788 euros) or Brazilians (5485 euros). Austrians, Irish or French, who enjoy European freedom of movement, have higher earnings in academic MINT professions than Indians.
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