The shortage of skilled workers in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has been an ongoing and growing problem for years. In addition to the low birth rate, the decrease in the number of people participating in employment due to demographic change and the shortage of personnel from abroad during the Corona virus pandemic process, accelerated the personnel shortage, which has escalated to a level that put many businesses in a difficult position.
While it has been learned that 44 percent of companies had to reduce their activities or cut their production due to the lack of qualified personnel, which can affect almost all sectors, experts and professional organizations estimate that there will be a decrease of 4 million in the number of qualified personnel in Germany by the end of the 2020s.
Demographic calculations show that by 2030, employment will drop to 45 million this way. It is stated that by the 2050s, one out of every three people will be over the age of 67, that is, at retirement age, and if measures are not taken, care expenses will collapse the country’s finances and the welfare of the society will be endangered due to the imbalance in the population.
“If we don’t close the gap, we will have a real productivity problem”
Economy Minister Robert Habeck recently announced that problems in the workforce could reduce productivity in the German economy and said, “We expect our job gap to rise to one million and more. If we do not close this gap, we will have a real productivity problem.”
The coalition government, which took office last autumn, agreed to lower the barriers to skilled workers from abroad, to create a points system for qualified workers who want to work in Germany from non-EU countries, and to raise the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour to make employment attractive again.
The greatest need is in the fields of construction, informatics, engineering and health.
In Germany, the most populous member of the EU with a population of 83.2 million, the greatest need for skilled labor is seen in the fields of construction, informatics, engineering and health. While the deficit in the health sector was defined as 300 thousand, it was reported that only the nurse deficit reached 80 thousand due to the health personnel who left their job during the pandemic process.
While it is reported that there is a staff shortage in different units, including intensive care units, in four out of five hospitals, there is also a serious shortage of doctors across the country.
According to the data of the German Health Insurance Physicians Association, the shortage of doctors is around 6,300, in other words, 6,300 doctors cannot be replaced in the health sector. The Union predicts that the deficit will increase to 10 thousand by 2030 if no measures are taken.
20 percent of doctors are at the retirement limit
The fact that approximately 20 percent of 340,000 doctors working in Germany, that is, 68 thousand doctors, are at the retirement limit, puts a serious pressure on the health sector.
The growing shortage of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers demonstrates the importance of foreign labor for the healthcare system. The number of foreign nurses and elderly caregivers working in the country has exceeded 200 thousand; The number of doctors of foreign origin is 56 thousand according to current numbers. While it is reported that 5,000 of the foreign doctors in Germany are Syrians, 4,500 are Romanian, and 2,700 are Greeks, the number of doctors who went to Germany from Turkey in 2019 was 1434. In 2020, the figure rose to 1607, and in 2021, the number of doctors who applied or migrated after fulfilling the necessary conditions reached nearly 3,000.
It is known that although Turkish and other foreign doctors who want to work in Germany face some bureaucratic difficulties, and the processes such as obtaining a visa for a job interview take an average of 6 months, the applications are processed more flexibly and faster than in the past.
What does it take to be a doctor in Germany?
In order to be a doctor in Germany, it is necessary to know German at a minimum B2 level and to have a good command of professional terminology and jargon. Since Turkish universities in Germany do not have equivalence in the field of medicine, the equivalence of the diploma obtained from Turkey is required.
According to the Skilled Labor Migration Law, which came into force in 2020 during the period of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, doctors and other healthcare professionals from outside the EU countries can work immediately if they sign an employment contract with a resident company before they go to Germany. The law also allows to come to Germany to work or look for a job without any employment contract. The skilled workers in question can go to Germany to look for a job and stay for up to 6 months with a temporary residence permit, without a concrete job offer.