Germany looks outside EU for nurses, other professionals

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government hashed out strategies Monday with German business and union officials on attracting skilled workers from outside the European Union as the country tries to tackle a shortfall of qualified professionals.

Merkel told reporters the first two pillars of her government’s approach to the problem would be providing more training for Germans and working to attract professionals from other EU countries.

But recognising those steps will not be sufficient, Germany needs to recruit workers from outside the trade bloc, she said.

To do that, Germany needs to make it easier for skilled workers to get visas to quickly start new jobs, and ensure the country is seen as an attractive place to resettle.

“It’s not only us who are looking at the world’s professionals,” she said.

“There is great competition in this area.”

Legislation due to take effect March 1 will make it easier for non-EU nationals to get visas to work and seek jobs in Germany.

Arrangements currently applied to university graduates are being expanded to immigrants with professional qualifications and German language knowledge.

Sectors such as information technology and nursing have complained of labour shortages.

“Many companies in Germany are urgently seeking skilled workers, even in times of a weaker economy,” Eric Schweitzer, president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told the Funke newspaper group ahead of the meetings.

“For more than half of companies, the shortage of skilled workers is currently the biggest risk to business.”

Ingo Kramer, the head of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, noted that some 430,000 migrants who came as asylum seekers since 2015 are now in jobs, so that it wouldn't’t be unreasonable to expect at least 100,000 positions per year could be filled by actively seeking educated professionals from outside.

“The process has to go quickly, so that it is not long and bureaucratic,” he said.

He added that it was also clear that if Germany wants those workers to remain, “it is important that they feel at home here.”

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