Germany should train more refugees and unskilled workers.
(Photo: dpa)
At airports, in hospitals and in the IT departments – everywhere there is currently a lack of personnel to reliably provide the country’s most important services. Germany, it seems, is running out of employable people.
So it stands to reason that politicians and companies are now working flat out to get the missing skilled workers from abroad. Turks are supposed to handle baggage handling at airports, Poles have been taking care of the elderly and sick for years, and Russians are supposed to help solve our IT problems in the future.
The solution of attracting fully trained workers from other countries is obvious in view of the acute shortage of workers in almost all sectors. The only problem is: Germany competes with many other countries worldwide in the IT sector and could often end up empty-handed when courting for the best.
According to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, Germany was only the 14th most popular destination for well-educated migrants in 2021.
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Potential also for unskilled workers
There would be another solution. Instead of getting nothing in the competition for skilled workers, Germany could have supported those who came without qualifications and without language skills.
People fleeing war, persecution and a lack of prospects usually don’t have a university degree in engineering or information technology, but they do have an unconditional desire to start a new life. Germany must make better use of this potential.
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The members of the traffic light government have recognized that there is a need for action in the area of immigration, but too often the focus is still on short-term solutions.
In May, the Federal Ministry of the Interior presented the draft for a “chances right of residence”, which is to be adopted in the cabinet today. Among other things, entry should be made easier for trained IT specialists and their families. For people with humanitarian residence status, however, the hurdles remain high.
The joint welfare association is rightly calling for the existing work bans for asylum seekers to be abolished, as they prevent “social and economic participation”. An exclusion from the labor market that Germany can no longer afford in these times.
Of course, training a young Syrian refugee to become a highly qualified IT expert takes a lot of time, money and commitment. A simple “We can do it” is not enough. Instead, what is needed is massive commitment to a well-established and equal-opportunity education system, targeted support and long-term prospects for people in training.
If Germany had started this mission years and decades ago, the Federal Republic could now fall back on a pool of well-trained people who have built a life for themselves in this country. What has been neglected in the past must be done now in order not to face an economy without people in the future.
More: How Germany is wasting the tech potential of migrant children