Germany labour market needs more immigration

Gütersloh (dpa) - According to a study, the German labour market will be reliant long-term on “substantial” immigration each year. Until 2040, around 288,000 foreign workers will be needed each year to ensure a sufficient supply of available labour, as an analysis commissioned by the Bertelsmann Stiftung shows. Currently, labour migration is apparently significantly lower than it needs to be. Susanne Schultz, a migration expert at Bertelsmann, says that barriers need to be removed and the conditions for immigrants improved. 

She explained that without the influx of additional immigrants, the workforce would shrink due to demographic shifts from 46.4 million at present to 41.9 million - by around ten percent.  

Net immigration from other EU countries has fallen sharply of late and will hardly be on a significant level in future, the study found. This makes non-EU countries all the more important. According to Schulz, around 70,000 workers arrived from non-EU countries in 2023, yet 20,000 left Germany at the same time.  

“Germany now has a very liberal immigration law,” says the scientist, referring to the reformed Skilled Immigration Act. “It must be implemented much better, however.” She added that bureaucracy and staff shortages, for example at foreigners’ registration offices, were also barriers.