The economy calls for more immigration to Germany – and welcomes the traffic light schemes

Business and trade unions are calling for the preparation of a comprehensive training course for the new year to facilitate the movement of workers and skilled workers to Germany. “We must welcome all those who want to come to us and whom we need with open arms and respect,” Rainer Dulger, head of the employer, told the German news agency dpa. “We have to move away from a culture of testing to one that is empowering and welcoming,” said Yasmin Fahimi, Head of the DGB.

In the fall, the government decided on the main points of a new immigration law for skilled workers. Non-EU nationals without a recognized qualification will also be allowed to enter the country. The selection criteria must be professional experience or a connection to Germany.

“People should not face bureaucratic hurdles”

“First of all, we can live very well with the main points of the federal government,” Fahimi said. “I hope this can now be reasonably implemented in the coordination between departments.” Fittingly, for example, Germany also wants to try to attract potential young people who have not yet completed their training. “All these people should not face bureaucratic hurdles.”

According to senior representatives, the German procedure is outdated

Other settings:

Senior representatives of the economy drew attention to the “outdated procedures” and “the internal attitude in some authorities,” said DIHK President Peter Adrian. “There are still many obstacles in the path of skilled migration,” said Adrian.

“In Germany, everything that comes from abroad is often viewed with great skepticism – knowing full well that we don’t have enough skilled workers,” Holger Schwanecke, general secretary of the Central Association for German Handicrafts, told dpa. For companies and companies with local potential alone will.

Schwanecki said a different attitude was needed – “also in the labor administration and the immigration authorities”. The pillars of government moved in the right direction. Even for simple jobs, companies often can no longer find workers.

Nationality prospects:

Fahimi and Dulger also called for facilitating citizenship. “I am very much in favor of the skilled workers who work with us being able to obtain citizenship in a shorter period of time,” said the employer chief. “This is exactly the immigration we want and need.”

Not claiming citizenship ‘ridiculous’

“It is not logical to say that we want workers from all over the world, but we will tell you right away that you are not entitled to German citizenship,” Fahimi said. If someone sets out completely independently, they will need a realistic option that they can settle down permanently.

Conditions in Germany:

“I think we consider ourselves more attractive than we really are,” warned Dolger. Germany is no longer attractive to everyone, for example because there are not enough daycare places. In addition, an attractive living space is a must for people who come. “We want people to stay with us and work with us permanently.”

United States as an example

Fahimi has campaigned for easier family reunification and, in some cases, lower language requirements. “As the Iranian part of my family from 1978/79 Iran They fled to California, and not everyone was fluent in English.” But nobody in the US was interested in that. It wouldn’t be possible to think of the US today if it had immigration law like we had decades ago.” An example should be taken from that.

National strategy:

“We have to move quickly and decisively — with a national strategy,” Dolger said, and he’s still missing that in the federal government right now. There is a lot to be done digitally. “It takes a long time to get the visas, because the consulates are overburdened,” Schwanecki said. And still a lot is done by hand.

“What we need and want is uncomplicated dealings through consulates and representations abroad,” explained DIHK President Adrian. This is currently failing due to administrative structures. He called on “the German Foreign Ministry to move to digital procedures very quickly and decisively so that German diplomatic missions abroad issue visas more quickly.”