“It worked somehow – but it always took a lot of heart and soul on the part of the employer,” says labor lawyer Jakob Friedrich Krüger. Now it should be easier to get workers from abroad. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty
Is everything getting better now? At the beginning of July 2023, the federal government passed an amendment to the Skilled Immigration Act. Startups should also – or better: especially – benefit from this. Jakob Friedrich Krüger, specialist lawyer for labor law at the law firm Kliemt in Berlin, took a close look at the Nouvelle for us and made a prognosis as to whether and how it would simplify the work of the recruiting departments of growing young companies.
Two big problems
But first of all, what is the problem? Well there are two. Everyone knows one thing, runs through all media: the so-called skills shortage. In Germany there is a lack of qualified workers, i.e. people with a university degree or recognized vocational training. The first thought here is often the health and care industry. But the problem is also one of the start-up scene: According to figures determined by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, there would be a shortage of around 96,000 specialists in the IT sector in 2022. That is 12 percent more than in 2021, and the trend is rising. According to a survey by the Startup Association from spring 2022, the shortage of skilled workers is a “key obstacle for startups in their business activities”. 85 percent of startups with more than 25 employees are looking for talent, especially in the areas of IT, sales and marketing.
And now the second problem: It’s not as if there is no talent in these areas. They just don’t exist here in Germany. At least not in sufficient quantities. So the obvious solution would be to hire people in other countries and bring them to Germany. However: exactly that Bringing people here and having them work here, the state makes that damn difficult for the companies.