Lack of Specialist Staff: German Immigration Act a Good Opening Gambit in the Eyes of the Internet Industry

Internet and IT companies in Germany are suffering like almost no other industry from the general shortage of well-educated skilled workers. Around 60 percent of IT companies, according to a recent survey by the VDE (the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies), were not able to cover their needs for specialist workers in 2017. Current employment statistics chronicle more than 127,000 vacancies in STEM professions. Amongst those sectors particularly affected are data centers. The draft for an immigration act introduced by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior last week could entice more specialists to move to Germany.

Lucia Falkenberg, Chief People Officer at both eco – Association of the Internet Industry and the Internet Exchange DE-CIX in Frankfurt, and Leader of the Competence Group New Work at eco, therefore welcomes the key points presented: “In parallel with and as a result of the digitalization of the economy, more and more technical knowledge is required in Germany for the building, expansion, and operation of digital infrastructures. Specialists are the decisive locational factor in European and international competition. The Internet industry stands for a culture of welcome. At DE-CIX alone we now have staff from more than 20 nations, who work optimally together.” The current draft legislation would remove unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, would simplify the hiring of foreign specialists for companies, and would offer immigrants the chance of a secure job and a new start with future potential.

The planned law would therefore be a good opening gambit in combatting the shortage of skilled workers, but wouldn’t be capable of singlehandedly solving the problem. “The federal government urgently needs to work on further approaches. We need a nationwide campaign to increase the attractiveness of digital infrastructures as a professional field, in order to be able to find and keep sufficient qualified staff in the future to take on roles in this sector,” according to Falkenberg.