The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has expressed its concerns that easing labour migration rules to grant more visas to citizens from the Western Balkan countries could lead to lower and also worse conditions for unskilled workers, according to Deutsche Welle.
Germany’s decision to fill in labour shortages by making the labour migration rules easier has not been welcomed by the Union, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Evelyn Räder, who is responsible for labour market policy on the Union’s executive board, said that basic conditions for workers from the Western Balkans need special attention.
“The people who come are largely dependent on their employer. They have a residence permit that is linked to their job. That triggers fears that if they don’t toe the line, they’ll be sent back,” Räder says.
The data provided by the Institute for Employment Research Germany is dealing with 1.98 million job vacancies, while authorities in Germany are considering easing labour migration legislation as an effective way to manage the situation.
Additional amendments will also be applied to a provision called “Western Balkan Regulation”, which will not be extended indefinitely from the expiration date at the end of this year, but the quota will increase in order to include a total of 50,000 job seekers every year.
During the 2015 refugee crisis, when Germany received nearly one million refugees, the majority of them from Syria and Afghanistan, the country also received a large number of arrivals from Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Macedonia and Serbia.
In addition, they filed nearly 30 per cent of the asylum applications back then, despite the fact that their chances of acceptance were low; only about 5 per cent of them were granted.
In 2016, it was introduced the Western Balkans Regulation in order to help job seekers to work in Germany without being subject to additional difficulties. Unlike skilled workers who look for work following the Blue Card scheme, this group does not require any qualifications.
Earlier this month, Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser as well as the Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil travelled to Canada in order to attend several meetings with Canadian ministers for labour market policy, immigration and public security in order to learn more from Canada how to attracted skilled international workers.
In addition, last month, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, unfolded plans that Germany would ease the rules for Indian information technology experts who are interested in obtaining work visas in Germany.
>> 5 Changes That Germany Plans to Make to Skilled Workers Immigration Act
