IN THE FUTURE, up to 50,000 people from the region will be able to find employment and settle in Germany each year, even if they do not have professional qualifications. Germany needs labor in almost all fields and is easing almost all criteria, writes Deutsche Welle.

German authorities intend to double the quota for the immigration of unskilled workers from the Western Balkans region, according to a draft law seen by the German news agency dpa. In the future, there should be up to fifty thousand of them annually. This concerns the so-called “Western Balkans rule”, which provides privileged access to the German labor market for citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo.

According to current laws, namely, “skilled” labor can immigrate from all over the world. Only from the Balkans can people get a job and a work visa even when they work outside their profession or without professional qualifications.

That rule was devised after the first wave of the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016 because among the asylum seekers, alongside Syrians, there were also numerous citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Berlin’s idea was to enable people from the region to find jobs in Germany more easily instead of hopelessly seeking asylum.

Points for the “opportunity card”

That is not the only legal change being prepared. The new rules are intended to “counter the dramatic labor shortage in numerous sectors”, dpa assesses.

These changes also include the so-called “opportunity card”, that is, the possibility for people to simply move to Germany and only then, on the spot, look for a job. During that time, they have the right to work part-time outside their profession in order to earn a living. The opportunity card should, dpa reports, be awarded according to a new points system to anyone who collects six points.

A certain professional qualification brings four points, good knowledge of German or three years of work experience brings three points, two points are awarded if the person is younger than 35, and one point if they had previously legally stayed in Germany for at least six months.

Huge need for workers

As DW has already written, Germany is troubled by demographic changes and a large number of vacant jobs. It is estimated that the immigration of around 400,000 people annually is necessary for the economy, healthcare, and elderly care to function.

At the same time, one eye is always kept on the Western Balkans, still an enviable reservoir of labor. This deepens the enormous demographic problems of the Balkans, which were also revealed by the latest population censuses.

Source: Index.hr