(de-news.net) – Federal Labor Minister Heil (SPD) has emphasized in a keynote at a congress in Berlin that the German economy needs more skilled workers. Otherwise, the lack of qualified employees will become a key brake on growth. By 2035, seven million skilled workers and workers will have to be replaced. One had to focus on training young people, in particular, and to open up career opportunities, Heil added. Federal Economics Minister Habeck (Greens) also took part in the conference. He said that training or work should be available to all people who have settled in Germany and want to work. This he considered a crucial point with regard to continued prosperity.
Federal Education Minister Stark-Watzinger (FDP) sees Germany in competition for foreign skilled workers. The minister said in a television report that the bureaucratic processes need to be further speeded up in order to attract qualified people. The federal states are also called on to do their part in this: “If you have to spend the night in front of the building of an immigration authority, as a top IT specialist, in order to get an appointment, that doesn’t work.” The administration must be set up accordingly – with digitization, staff and language skills, Stark-Watzinger required.
The Union parties recently warned against overemphasizing the family reunification of skilled workers. According to a newspaper report, the vice-chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Lindholz (CSU), says that problems arise if, for example, a family relies solely on the earnings of a single specialist. In the long run, immigrants should find their center of life in Germany.
SPD domestic politician Demir, however, said that expanding family reunification made sense. He justified this with the fact that new immigrants not only have to be able to secure their own livelihood, but also that of their relatives. The FDP politician Jurisch (FDP), on her part, emphasized that one must closely monitor how the law on family reunification, which has not yet been tested, affects practice. “If we find that family reunification becomes a problem, then we will take appropriate measures.”