Germany urges Filipinos to join its labor market

MANILA – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Filipinos to join the German labor market, noting the passage of legislation in the European country for easier entry of foreign workers.

In a joint press conference with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Scholz highlighted Germany’s immigration law reforms that aim to attract skilled foreign workers and combat labor shortages in the country.

“The legislation that we’ve just passed lays the foundation and makes it a lot easier for people to have access to the German labor market,” he said.

“I believe it to be the probably the most advanced and modern legislation in that regard. We know that our prosperity and growth depend on professional workers from outside and we want to create favorable conditions here,” he added.

Scholz and Marcos signed on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the renewal of “Cooperation Program” between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training for the upskilling and reskilling of Filipino workers.

Among the capacity-building measures are conducting thematic visits per year, with both entities providing workplace and technical facilities free of charge.

Other measures include exchange on policy research and knowledge management, support evaluation for apprenticeship and dual training systems programs, and support evaluation and improvement of the Study on the Employment of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Graduates (SETG).