The German government is looking to simplify the process of recruiting workers from abroad to fill the masses of vacancies in the country’s hospitality industry, as part of a bigger overhaul of immigration policies. 

Germany to overhaul immigration policies

Last week, German ministers announced that they would be cutting red tape to better enable companies to recruit workers from countries like Turkey to ease the worker shortage that’s thrown German airports into disarray over the past couple of weeks. 

Now, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has said that a similar approach could be used to help tackle the staffing crisis being faced in other sectors, particularly restaurants, bars and hotels in Germany. “The labour shortage has been made much worse as a result of the pandemic,” Faeser said, adding that she was working with Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil to make changes to “bring good workers to Germany.” 

Faeser said that “several tasks have to be completed” to successfully make Germany more attractive to skilled workers. “We need faster recognition of professional qualifications and less bureaucracy,” she said. She explained that immigration laws needed to be modernised, while also paying attention to “balanced solutions and acceptance among the population.” 

Germany has remained closed off from rest of world, FDP claims

Christian Dürr, parliamentary group leader for the FDP, added that Germany needed solutions to overhaul its insular labour market that has kept hundreds of thousands of able people out of jobs over the years. “After the guest worker phase in the 1960s and 1970s, the labour market closed itself off. This attitude has never really been broken,” he said.

“The opposite must be the case. Today that motto has to be: anyone who can make a living with their own hands must be allowed to work immediately,” Dürr said. “After all, they pay taxes and pay into the pension system.”