The Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, Dr Philipp Rösler, the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Dr Ursula von der Leyen, and the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Frank-Jürgen Weise, have launched the new service provision available on the skilled labour offensive internet portals www.make-it-in-germany.com and www.fachkräfte-offensive.de.
A new addition to the "Make it in Germany" welcome portal for skilled labour abroad is a BA job market designed especially for occupations with staffing shortages as well as a "Germany local" world map providing contact persons and service provisions by German institutions worldwide. Foreign students are given advice for their career entry.
In the governing campaign's portal, the "Ihre Werkzeuge" tool box provides an overview of activities for winning over and retaining skilled labour, which was developed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises. Likewise a new addition is the "Netzwerk-Navigator" (Network Navigator), an interactive map of Germany illustrating networks for safeguarding the skilled labour supply.
Generate enthusiasm for Germany
Rösler: "In order to ensure Germany's competitive capability, we need also international skilled labour. Because of the demographic change, our domestic potential will not be sufficient. I am delighted to see that, recently, an increasing number of skilled workers from Europe have come to our country. Yet we need to generate enthusiasm for Germany amongst the skilled workforce all over the world. This is a long-term task. Our successfully launched welcome portal plays an important part in this. 85 per cent of the more than 415,000 visitors to the portal are from abroad. This demonstrates that our signal of an open culture of welcome is being accepted. Today, we extended our service provision with the aim of even better highlighting the advantages Germany has to offer, for example, its worldwide successful small and medium-sized businesses."
Von der Leyen: "I am glad that the German employment market has become increasingly attractive also on an international level. The immigration and settling of well-qualified skilled labour benefits the economy and creates more jobs in this country. As regards safeguarding the skilled labour supply, Germany has the best cards, if it lowers the barriers for interested people both from home and abroad to the lowest degree possible. By now, there are more than 850 regional networks, where companies, employment agencies, chambers and others join forces towards finding skilled labour potentials, towards qualifying people and placing them in vacant jobs. They all use the extended skilled labour offensive internet service provision."
Weise: "By 2025, if nothing is done, the labour market could be short of up to six million people because of changing demographics. In addition to our domestic potential, we therefore need to also activate foreign skilled labour potential in a targeted manner. With the new job market, we have further increased the attractiveness of our welcome portal. Equally helpful is also our portal-based multi-lingual BA hotline. In November, more than 100 skilled workers from abroad consulted with us."
Safeguard skilled labour supply
The skilled labour offensive, launched in June 2012 by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the Federal Employment Agency (BA), accompanies and augments the federal government's skilled labour concept.
The aim is to make the public, enterprises and skilled workforce aware of the issue of safeguarding the skilled labour supply and to indicate possible solutions. Managed by the BMAS, the portal for the skilled labour offensive's governing campaign bundles important services in the field of safeguarding the skilled labour supply addressed to German enterprises and skilled workers.
The multi-lingual welcome portal "Make it in Germany", which is implemented under the leadership of the BMWi, strives to attract skilled labour from all over the world, in particular from the fields of mathematics, computer sciences, natural sciences and technology (STEM fields) and health. It illustrates how skilled workers can successfully organise their immigration to Germany and presents Germany as a hospitable and diverse country.
The welcome portal is augmented by pilot projects in Asia, which provide advisory services and aim at supporting skilled workers on site in their efforts of finding a job and organising immigration.