CHAPTER 2 | OCCUPATIONS WITH SHORTAGE OF SKILLED LABOUR IN GERMANY

Detailed overview of the occupations in which qualified workforce is urgently needed in Germany

(This article was originally written in Turkish on November 10th, 2019 and updated before publishing in English.)

Hello…

In this article, I will be telling in detail about the professions and the crafts with skilled labour shortage in Germany…

First of all, let me state it very clearly and underline:

With the new law, any professional will be able to seek a job in Germany, if they fulfill certain conditions. There are no restrictions for none of the professions or nationalities, as long as you have an occupation, and a diploma certifying your vocational training. In Germany, there is a shortage of skilled workforce in all occupational areas and all professions.

Of course, some professions need much more skilled labour, and there is a positive list (or a whitelist) as well. In this article, I will tell mostly about this mentioned list.

But before moving on to this list, I would like to briefly tell you about the general reasons for this “famous” qualified workforce shortage. I mean, German lawmakers did not enact this law out of the blue. Germany has seriously needed this law for years, and now this is an emergency situation. It was a topic that has been discussed and debated for many years. Now it has received approval from the parliament — although it is deemed incomplete and inadequate by the opposition — and entered into force as of March 1, 2020.

So where does this “shortage” come from?

The most important reason for the deficit is the elderly population and the aging of the current working population. There are not enough young educated people to replace the retiring ones. Currently, there are about 47 million employees in the German labour market. If nothing is done about this issue, I mean, if there is no labour migration from foreign countries and measures are not taken to ensure the most efficient market participation of existing labour resources, this number is expected to fall below 29 million by 2060. For a country with a population of over 80 million, the situation is actually gruesome. Even being so late for the law is perhaps a big mistake. At first, they tried to close this gap from other European countries, but obviously, it was not enough. Moreover, it cannot be said that the situation is much different in other European countries.

Thereupon, an additional law was enacted on the workforce in Balkan countries that are not members of the European Union, but over time it also remained inadequate. There is a Blue Card option for a while, for those living outside of Europe, which has been developed to solve the problem. However, it could not bring the desired dynamism in practice, since it was applicable “only” in limited areas where the shortage of skilled workforce was huge, as well as for academics and scientists. In Germany, the workforce groups that would earn an income above a relatively high earning level were able to benefit from the Blue Card option. The Blue Card seems to continue as an option after the new law goes into effect. One way or another, Germany has not been able to find a solution to this great threat. Now hope is in the new law.

Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany’s most influential newspapers, made a very romantic introduction while sharing the first news on the subject, at the time when the law was presented to the parliament’s agenda and discussed. The news started like this:

“If German workshops are left unattended while engineers in Libya are sitting idle and unemployed at home, if the waiting rooms of the doctor’s offices are overflowing here while the Armenian physiotherapist dreams about a job in Germany in vain, then something is probably not going well.”

As a matter of fact, almost everybody in Germany is aware of the situation and it seems that there is no more effective method that can solve the problem in the short term other than opening the migration routes to the qualified workforce.

Meanwhile, the lack of adequate and healthy communication between schools and the business world, and that there is not much success in directing young people to professions where labour shortages are felt more intensely, are some of the complaints about the issue.

But of course, it should be noted that Germany probably evaluates this within its own internal dynamics. In other words, they judge “we failed in this matter” by evaluating them according to their own standards, not compared to some other countries. Because -let me say my personal opinion- the German education system is one of the leading systems about quality and orientation in the world, despite everything.

So anyway, there is an exact reality: The shortage of skilled labour problem in Germany is not easy to solve.

As such, alarm bells began to ring in Europe’s largest economy and the world’s third most powerful economy after America and China …

In order to sustain this strong economy and to maintain its position at the forefront of industry and technology, medicine, and scientific research, Germany now needs more than one hundred thousand new trained employees every year. And this demand will continue to increase.

Of course, Germany will not necessarily say “come in” to every CV post. A good education is being required. If the education is not good, or if it is incomplete by Germany’s own standards, it is required to be completed in your country or Germany. The experience is preferred, and the employers will probably be awaiting knowledge of language. Let me say that again, yes, language. Those who have serious intentions, please, as soon as possible, start your German language education. In front of every candidate, there is an intense process and it can be overcome without any problems if the steps are taken carefully.

Moreover, even if this was not a prerequisite, it would have caused you a lot of trouble not to speak the language of a country you intend to live in for many years. I know this from my observations here. Let me tell you my own opinion again. By relying only on English, one can only go on holiday to another country. Problems start to erupt in the third, or fifth month of arrival.

Recalling what I said at the beginning, let me introduce the “White List” issue again. All professions are needed in Germany. From the baker or the mason to the neurosurgeon, there are no restrictions in any profession related to job seeking.

However, the need in some professions is now on the red alert level. Therefore, of course, their chances are higher than others.

Let’s start with the two jobs at the top of the White List:

Nurses and caregivers from all branches and those working in the “IT”, ie information technology sector. Software experts for example…

Nurses and caregivers and those working in the IT sector have an extraordinarily clear path in Germany, their chances of finding a job are very high, compared to all other sectors.

But please get it right, I say “compare to”. Please do not get that as if every nurse will come here and find a job easily. However, every nurse or caregiver who manages the process correctly, provides the relevant documents completely, and learns German at the desired level has a very high chance of finding a job in Germany. So high…

Other than this, there is already an extraordinary demand for informatics and software developers all over the world, as required by the era.

I can even confirm the need for nurses personally. It is being so much talked around, in visual and written media, in daily life, so that it is impossible not to observe. The doors are wide open, especially to those who specialize in a branch, if they meet the requirements.

Here, of course, we see the effect of the elderly population again. There is a much stronger direct proportion between the shortage of specialist labour in the health sector and the elderly population. The relationship here is two-way.

In other words, the elderly population has a leading role in this issue as they need more medical services. Especially in elderly nursing homes, the need is great.

Besides, there is a very high shortage of nurses and caregivers in the branches of Pediatrics, Intensive Care and Anesthesia, Clinical Geriatrics, Neurology, Oncology, Surgery and Endoscopy, Psychiatry and Rehabilitation.

The shortage of experts in the IT sector is quite large in Germany, as in almost all countries of the world that are leading in technology. There are currently 82 thousand open positions in professions that can be mentioned under the roof of the IT sector. Germany is a technology giant. We cannot finish the world-famous brands by counting here, I think we agree on this. In order to ensure the continuity of this technology and the leadership in this field, a specialized workforce in the information technology sector is needed. Naturally, Germany is one of the countries that feels this need most. And this need does not seem to end at all, considering the conditions of our age.

Although there is an urgent need for all kinds of qualified workforce in the field of Information Technologies, there is also a “red alert” list in this regard. Computer engineers, software engineers, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) application developers, IT product developers, software programmers, and especially Java programmers are at the top of this list.

In recent years, I have frequently seen people of Indian origin in the city, for example. You know, they are a nation that has developed a lot in IT. I think this must be the most probable reason for coming to Germany with temporary or permanent duties.

Of course, this is completely my personal observation, it definitely has some prejudice, but when I see someone of Indian origin, I think of software, informatics, etc.

Anyway, for whatever reason they are coming, the gap in IT branches is as profound and urgent as the medical field. At least we know this absolutely.

Let’s continue with medicine…

Among the other professions on the “White List”, there is also “doctor of medicine” from almost every branch. 42 different branches are listed, mainly the general practitioners. It would not be very logical to count these one by one now, but there are many different branches from Pathology to Urology, from Neurology to Ear-Nose-Throat on the urgent needs list. Again, there are no restrictions for the branches not listed. Just, there is an urgent need for the professions I have described and will describe in this chapter. This is the only important aspect of this list as of today.

Let’s talk about engineers…

For engineers, the situation is not much different from MDs.

Because there is a need for engineers from all fields and branches. Another situation would be surprising, in an industrial country that generally struggles to find qualified workforce.

Some are still very urgent. Metallurgy and welding engineering tops the list. Mechanical engineering, especially construction engineering, mechatronics, and all engineering branches that are directly or indirectly related to automation technology, electrical and electronic engineering, engineering branches related to technical research and development are among the urgent ones on the list.

Biologists, chemists, geologists, geo-ecologists, mineralogists, and all branches directly or indirectly related to mathematics, physics, and biology stand out on the list, among other professions that require a university degree.

Among the professions which are urgently needed in job areas that can be entered with graduation certificates obtained from vocational schools and vocational high schools, mechatronics technician and all other sub-professions that may be of interest to the automotive sector can be mentioned. As you know, Germany is a world giant in automotive and has many world-renowned motor vehicle brands. As such, one of the sectors that suffered the most from the crisis in skilled labour is of course the automotive sector.

Mechanical, electrical, electronic technicians, industrial design technicians, and technologists are also at the top of the list.

Control and automation technician, cable and electrical installer, plumbing, all kinds of assembly work, including air conditioning and heating, insulation work, lightning rod technician, and train mechanic are among the other professions that draw attention on the list.

Since I am already an employee of German railways, I can also personally confirm the situation, especially regarding the driver shortage. Every two or three months, German railways try to train personnel in every region of Germany by opening highly expensive courses for the company, and yet they do not seem to be able to fill the driver shortage with their own means.

I personally witnessed this…

The White List -or the Positive List- is pretty bulky. I mentioned generally some professions in order not to spread the subject too long. For example, engineers are needed in every branch, but I only counted the top and most remarkable ones on the list. However, when we try to count every profession with its details and sub-profession groups or with all the needed branches, believe me, it keeps pages.

Moreover, as I said at the beginning, these are only those that are urgently needed. In other words, there is a need for qualified workforce in every field, in every branch. I make this reminder again so that you don’t think, “I want to look for a job in Germany, I want to do my profession, but my profession is not on the list.” The need is in every field without exception.

Because Germany is not only trying to save the day, as you will draw from what I have told so far. A long-term plan has been made and this plan will be implemented very soon.

We have come to the end of this article, in which I tried to tell about the occupational groups with an urgent need for experts, in as much detail as possible.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please write to us. Let me share our contact information again on this occasion:

To contact us, you can send an e-mail to info@lifeingermany.eu

Please share these blog posts and take care to inform your relatives that you think they may need it. The more people we can reach who need this information, the more beneficial we will do.

In the next article, we will go into the details of the first steps to start looking for a job in Germany. For example, first of all, I will try to address important issues such as what you need to do to get the recognition of your diploma, how long you need to learn a language, what should be considered when applying for a job, in as much detail as possible.

Thank you for reading…

Take care of yourself…