Germany needs more skilled migrants, says jobs minister

GERMANY’S employment minister yesterday bucked the European trend by calling for more immigration to tackle the country’s skills shortage.

Just weeks after Angela Merkel fought off a government crisis over migration, Hubertus Heil pledged to present a new law to make it easier for skilled workers to go to Germany even without securing a job first.

“We have to tread carefully,” Mr Heil told Handelsblatt newspaper. “We do not want immigration into our benefits system but pragmatic solutions to our need for skilled labour.”

His comments come after his centreleft Social Democratic Party secured Mrs Merkel’s backing for a new immigration law as its price for rescuing her government from collapse. Many European countries face skilled worker shortages and want to encourage qualified applicants from abroad without opening the gates to uncontrolled immigration.

Mr Heil said the difficulty in getting employers to recognise foreign qualifications made it hard for skilled workers from abroad to get jobs.

A cross-party group of MPS in the UK last week called for similar measures here to let qualified immigrants work for six months without a visa or permit.