High Demand for High-Skilled Labour in the EU

Abstract

Globalisation has increased free movement of goods, services and capital but current policies have economic, social and security-related concerns regarding mobility of people. In this context, migration is a hot topic since it may be associated with illegal migration and might be considered as a burden for the welfare state. When we focus on the recent European Union (EU) agenda, it can be stated that the main objective is economic development, growth and worldwide competitiveness. As innovation, high-productivity and technological developments highlight the importance of the need for high-skilled labour force and the countries have been struggling with the issues, such as poverty, unemployment or ageing population, qualified immigrant workers and talented students have been preferred by the European labour market due to the shortage of skilled workers among the EU citizens. Therefore, a number of directives, which set out the minimum standards for the Member States, regulate labour migration processes for third-country nationals to facilitate their entry, residence and work permits; and to protect their rights. This paper tries to find answers for the following questions at macro level: How immigration policies in the EU influence labour migration in Germany? What are the tools of the EU for managing labour migration? What kind of labour migration policies are being implemented in Germany? It can be noted that the EU has restrictive migration policies to attract high-skilled labourers and facilitates exclusively their migration processes particularly in some sectors. Moreover, addressing the most famous receiving country, this paper focuses on German labour migration policies to see the current situation in a member state. As a conclusion, it can be seen that although there are some initiatives to attract foreign high-skilled workers, the influence of the EU migration policies remains limited in German labour migration. 

Keywords

• EU Migration Policy
• Labour Migration
• Foreign High-skilled Worker
• Blue Card Directive
• Germany

Demand for Skilled Labour of Third Country Nationals: The EU and Germany

Abstract

Küreselleşme mal, hizmet ve sermayenin serbest dolaşımını arttırırken, günümüz politikalarının insanların serbest dolaşımına ilişkin olarak ekonomik, sosyal ve güvenlik temelli konularda çekinceleri bulunmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, yasa dışı göç ile ilişkilendirilmesi ve refah devletinin sırtında bir yük olarak görülebilmesi sebebiyle göç önemli bir gündem maddesi olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Avrupa Birliği (AB)’nin gündemine odaklanıldığında temel amacın ekonomik kalkınma, büyüme ve dünya çapında rekabet edebilirlik olduğu ifade edilebilir. Yenilikçilik, yüksek verimlilik ve teknolojik gelişmelerin yüksek beceriye sahip işgücüne olan ihtiyacın önemini vurgulaması ve ülkelerin yoksulluk, işsizlik, yaşlanan nüfus sorunlarıyla uğraşmaları sebebiyle AB vatandaşları arasında yüksek becerili işçi eksikliği ile karşılaşılmasına bağlı olarak kalifiye olan göçmenler ile yetenekli öğrenciler Avrupa işgücü piyasası tarafından memnuniyetle karşılanmaktadır. Bu nedenle, üye ülkelerin yerine getirmesi gereken asgari standartları belirleyen birçok sayıda direktif, üçüncü ülke vatandaşlarının giriş, oturma ve çalışma izinlerini kolaylaştırmak ve onların haklarını korumak üzere işgücü göçü süreçlerini düzenlemiştir. Bu makale şu sorulara makro seviyede yanıtlar aramaktadır: AB göçmen politikaları Almanya’daki işgücü göçünü nasıl etkilemiştir? AB’nin göçmen politikalarını yönetirken kullandığı araçlar nelerdir? Almanya’da ne tür işgücü politikaları uygulanmaktadır? Bu noktada, AB’nin yüksek becerili çalışanları çekmek için sınırlayıcı göç politikaları uyguladığı ve özellikle belirli sektörlerde göç süreçlerini kolaylaştırıcı tutum izlediği ifade edilebilir. Dahası, en fazla göç alan ülke olarak Almanya’ya odaklanılmasındaki sebep bu konuda göz önünde olan bir üye ülkedeki güncel durumu inceleyebilmektir. Sonuç olarak, bu makale, AB’nin yüksek becerili işgücünü birlik bünyesine çekmek için birçok girişimi olsa da, üye devletler üzerindeki etkisinin kısıtlı kaldığını göstermektedir.     

Keywords

• EU Migration Policy
• Labour Migration
• Foreign High-Skilled Worker
• EU Blue Card Directive
• Germany

References

1. Cerna, L. (2013). ‘Understanding the diversity of EU migration policy in practice: the implementation of the Blue Card initiative’. Policy Studies, 34:2, 180-200. Council Directive No. 2009/50/EC of 25 May 2009 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment.
2. European Commission. ‘Skills and qualifications’. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1146&langId=en
3. European Commission. Migration. ‘Towards a European Agenda on Migration’. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/migration_en
4. European Commission. (2015). ‘Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A European Agenda on Migration’.
5. European Commission. (2016). ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly skilled employment’.
6. European Parliament. (2019). Fact Sheets on the European Union. Immigration Policy. Avaliable from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/en/FTU_4.2.3.pdf
7. European Parliamentary Research Service. (2017). Briefing EU Legislation in Progress. ‘Revision of the Blue Card Directive’.
8. Ghimis A. (2016). Strategic Sectors, Culture & Society. ‘The EU’s Labour Migration Policy: Recent Developments and What More is Needed’. IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2016, 312-315.

9. Karaaslan, İ. and A. Şenkal. (2019). ‘Labour Migration and International Labour Standards: An Assessment in Terms of Labour Market’. İnsan&İnsan. 6:12, 45-62.
10. Laubenthal; B. (2017). ‘Introduction: Labour migration in Europe: Changing policies – changing organizations – changing people’. International Migration. 55:S1.
11. Reuters. December 19, 2018. ‘German cabinet approves immigration laws to ease worker shortage’. Available from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-immigration-law/german-cabinet-approves-immigration-laws-to-ease-worker-shortage-idUSKBN1OI1RO
12. Tali, M. (2019). ‘Paper commissioned for the Global Education Monitoring Report 2019 Consultation on Migration’.
13. The Local. May 15, 2018. ‘Record high’ number of vacant positions in Germany’s IT sector’. Avaliable from: https://www.thelocal.de/20180515/record-high-number-of-vacant-positions-in-germanys-it-sector
14. For data: EURES, ‘Vacancies’
15. For data: EUROSTAT, ‘Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and citizenship’
16. For data: OECD, ‘Foreign-born participation rate’