Germany in need of migrant workers; relaxes visa rules

Needing about 1.2 million skilled workers, mainly in construction, health and nursing, gastronomy and IT sectors, Germany has started implementing a new law that relaxes its visa rules for migrant workers. The new law called Fachkraefteeinwanderungsgesetz (or “Skilled Workers Immigration Law”) and implemented since March, anyone who is qualified and speaks good German can get a six-months visa to look for a job. Also, anyone who has passed vocational training that meets German standards will be given a working visa, provided the worker has passed at least B1-level German language tests administered by the Goethe Institut. The new law also created a new agency to speed up the visa processing, which had previously taken up to six months. The goal now is three weeks. But German critics said the language requirement should be scrapped because it means a prospective worker must fork out a small fortune to be able to study and learn the German language. Agency board member Daniel Terzenbach said workers from South America, the Balkan states and Asia, particularly Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines were of particular interest. Nursing jobs has been pinpointed as the most critical sector because the elderly population is growing. A survey jointly conducted by trade union Verdi and three associations of nursing agencies revealed that as of December 2019, more than 50,000 nurses were needed by German hospitals. A study by the German Economic Institute has calculated that up to around 307,000 nurses and caregivers are need by 2035. It expects around 4.53 million people would be in need of care by 2060. German statistic have shown that the number of those age over 60 and above is steadily rising because of good medical care in tandem with a low birth rate. Meanwhile, digital industry lobby group Bitkom estimates that Germany currently lacks around 124,000 IT experts. “We expect that foreign IT specialists can now be employed in a simpler and faster way,” said spokesperson Andreas Streim, adding his group has been seeking to scrap the German language requirement for the IT sector. (Source: INQUIRER.net)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more