Shortage of skilled workers: This is how migrants overcome the hurdles in the German labor market

Shortage of skilled workers: This is how migrants overcome the hurdles in the German labor market

The discussion about the shortage of skilled workers in Germany has become more explosive in recent years. Care, crafts and the IT industry are particularly affected. Forecasts show that a third of the current workforce could be missing by 2039 due to the retirement of the so-called baby boomers. In order to counteract this bottleneck, immigration from abroad is increasingly coming to the fore. That's what they report Mercury that in the Aruso job center in Erding, more than 58% of citizens' benefit recipients are foreign nationals, an increase from only 22% in 2010.

Of the approximately 2,300 benefit recipients, 1,341 do not have a German passport. This dramatic change in the composition of job seekers is primarily due to migration and refugee movements. Many of the foreign job seekers come from countries such as Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey. A third of these citizens' benefit recipients have in-company or academic training, which sounds promising, but often requires their qualifications to be recognized in Germany.

Integration in focus

But the path to getting a job is not always easy. In addition to the formal recognition of qualifications, health restrictions, a lack of mobility and a lack of care for children are other hurdles that many migrants have to overcome. By September 2025, the Erding job center had achieved at least 424 integrations into employment subject to social security contributions, around half of which went to qualified specialists. Your employees in the areas of logistics, hospitality, retail and healthcare are particularly in demand.

A central element of integration is language: German courses and professional qualification offers are very popular and make it easier to enter the job market. Language support measures are an important part of the job center programs, which aim to quickly integrate migrants into the work process.

Political measures

The shortage of skilled workers is also being addressed politically. In June 2023, the Bundestag passed measures to facilitate the immigration of highly qualified academics and skilled workers. According to information from bpbMore and more third-country nationals are coming to Germany, in 2022 there were around 73,000 and in 2021 there were still 40,000.

The new Skilled Immigration Act of 2023 also makes it possible to search for suitable workers worldwide. Citizens from the EU can move freely anyway, while non-EU immigrants need a work permit. Immigration from India is particularly dynamic and is constantly increasing. The potential is there, but in order to make the integration successful, bureaucratic hurdles and administrative complications must be reduced.

The view

However, the challenges will remain high in the coming years. The high number of vacancies of over 767,000 in May 2023 and the huge skills gap, which is estimated at around 240,000 people by 2026, show that the German economy is dependent on immigration. In order to meet expectations, it is estimated that Germany needs around 400,000 immigrants every year. This is the only way to alleviate the increasing shortage of skilled workers in Germany in the long term. A topic that not only affects politics, but also society - there is something to be said!

It remains to be seen how all of these developments will play out in practice and what further steps will be necessary to make migration a positive solution to the shortage of skilled workers. The coming years will be crucial for integration and maintaining the ability to work in Germany.