Berlin – The shortage of skilled manpower in Germany, which is the economic engine of Europe, has become very serious. To overcome it, the Parliament of Germany has passed a new law. The merit-based mechanism has been included in the new law. Accordingly, the government claims that those seeking a visa to get a new job will face fewer hurdles. However, the opposition has criticised the government’s claim and drawn attention to how unskilled refugees can benefit.
Moreover, the recently released report by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the apex body of Germany’s industrial sector, clearly outlined the emerging problem of skilled manpower. ‘More than half of German companies in the country struggle to fill vacancies due to a shortage of skilled workers. Of 22,000 companies, 53 per cent have been harmed by the lack of skilled employees. The number of companies facing such difficulties has reached a peak level,’ the report stated as it raised awareness about the problem.
The government of Germany’s new Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has also confirmed this. A German minister recently warned that companies have already been forced to fill millions of vacancies, and the labour shortage is now the biggest threat facing the German economy. Given this threat, a new law has been approved, says the Scholz government. The law was passed in the German parliament by 388 versus 234 votes.
A few days ago, information about the damage caused by the recession in the German economy came to the fore. Germany’s growth rate has slipped continuously in the last quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. The rising inflation and decline in trade with other countries, including China, is considered the reason for the recession. Germany’s central bank has warned that the fall of the German 
economy could be prolonged. Given this, the government took the initiative of the new law; it is being said.
The new law has used Canada’s ‘Points Based System’. Barriers to entry have been lowered for skilled manpower in terms of occupational eligibility, age and language proficiency. Issues set for salary, education level and German language ability have been reduced. Because of this, it will be easier for migrants to come to Germany for jobs or any other reason. Promoting this includes the issue of being able to bring in not only aides and children but also parents.
The opponents have expressed anger saying that some rejected refugees can find work here due to the new law. Germany is not an ‘immigration’ country but a ‘motherland’; was the stand presented by the ‘Alternative for Germany’ party of the right-wing ideology. What you have done together in the 100-page draft can be said in just one statement. Everyone will have the opportunity to enter Germany, but ‘no one will be expelled’, the AfD leader Norbert Kleinwachter criticised.
The Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union also criticised the government’s plans to ease barriers to foreign workers. The plan to lower German language skills will encourage unskilled workers, said Andrea Lindholz of the CSU. He also claimed during this time that the new law did nothing to remove the problems of democracy. He reprimanded the provision of providing opportunities to the refugees already present in Germany, i.e., providing jobs to the refugees on government financial aid would prove to be an easy opportunity.
