Germany is traditionally considered a nation of immigration. The German economy opened its doors to immigrants to workers from all over Europe severel times in younger history. The economic boost in the fifties of last century was just the beginning of approximately four decades of immigration, reaching its peak in the seventies regarding immigration to Germany. Initially the foreign workers were considered „guest workers“, but many settled, founded family and living in Germany and integrated into the German culture.
Immigration Trends
Nowadays about 12% percent of the German population has a migration background (more than 50% obtained the German passport) and many live in the second (or even third) generation in Germany. The countries of origin are as multifaceted as the people, whereupon people from Turkey, Italy and Poland form the largest group of immigrants. Recently the number of immigrants of high-qualified workers from southern Europe rose due to the economic crisis and to high unemployment rates among young profesionals. The number of young people singning in the Goethe Institute’s German language courses in Spain and Portugal more than doubled, just to name an example. Hundreds of applicants found work in Germany via the Federal Employment Agency or other private placement agencies.
Germany’s Need for Qualified Workers
There is a skill shortage among the German businesses due to the demographic development and low birth rates in Germany. The economy seeks qualified applicants from all over the planet. Vacancies can be found in the business fields of Engineering, IT-Services and Medicine /Health- and Elderly Care. Moreover the areas of International Business, Marketing or Finance offer a wide range of opportunities including english speaking jobs. Last but not least there are several vacancies in the fields of science and applied research. The German government intodruced many of immigration projects aiming to spread the knowledge of German languange or to attract workers for jobs with shortage such as elderly care.
Visa | Blue Card Germany
Germany’s labour markets doors are open, especially to people with university degree as well as to people with vocational qualifications. For any EU- Citizen as well as for Citizen of Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland the choice of workplace is free, a work permit would not be required. The only obligation is to register with the appropriate office of the area (Einwohnermedeamt or Bürgeramt). Citizen of Andorra, Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino or the USA can be generelly and easily be granted with a work permit. People from other Non-EU nations can be provided with the European Blue Card Germany, which was intodruced as an answer to the american Green Card. To being granted with the the Blue Card Germany non-EU-applicants have to fulfil certain obligations such as an secured income of a certain amount.
Integration | German Culture and Language
Once the applicant immigrated to Germany he is confronted with integrating into an unknown culture with people speaking a complicated language. Even if some companies offer English speaking jobs with an international ambition and most people in Germany speak the English language pretty well, it is still a huge challenge to cope with the circumstances in the new environment. We are not talking working for the Multinationals with English as company language in International cities like Munich or Hamburg. Many vacancies available are found in specialised or medium-sized companies of the strong German middle-class possibly being located in one of the numerous middle or small-sized towns, talking exaggerated, in the middle of nowhere. Good skills in German language might be essential in those cases. Anyway, in order improve the process of integration it is obviously recommended to study at least some basic German.
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