Germany makes it easier for skilled workers outside the EU to move to Germany

[IdaBWells]

This is a relief, as my kids are bilingual and plan to study and/or work in Germany. Now, whatever happens with Brexit they should be able to move to Germany. There are tons of unfilled well paid jobs there, we lived there for a number of years until recently so we are familiar with the economy. The standard of living is high and university is free or the fees are minimal. For degree that are in demand, such as engineering and business the government will support students through university, even if they are not low income.

I am even planning on picking up some extra qualifications myself in case I fancy going back to work there. I think they wanted to make sure young well qualified people in the UK could easily access the German job market. Obviously not only the UK, they want well qualified young people from around the world, but the timing makes me assume they wanted to send the signal that they welcome well-qualified young people that want to stay in the EU.

[IdaBWells]

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/19/germany-passes-immigration-law-to-lure-non-eu-skilled-workers

[silvercuckoo]

It wasn't only for the UK, it also was planned for a long time under the EU / Ukraine association agreement. Many of my Ukrainian friends are packing, Germany pays very well (at least in STEM areas) now. It is not only Germany, some other EU countries relaxed their rules as well.

[KittenEsque]

Won’t pay well for long by the looks of things.

[IdaBWells]

As I mentioned, I know they have been trying to attract well qualified Europeans for a long time and knew they needed to make it easier for those outside the EU to work in Germany. It does help them though if they can appeal to young British workers such as my children who will be well qualified, speak German and have British passports. I know many Americans would like to move to Germany if it was easier to get a work visa.

There are lots of jobs, especially in STEM fields, but actually in many sectors as their birth rate has been so low for decades they don’t have enough young, well qualified German citizens for the amount of good jobs they are creating.

[IdaBWells]

They will attract more workers from India and the Middle East too.

[NotCitrus]

Germany has had this for very highly-skilled workers for years, but now it covers more upper-middle range skills - and let's failed asylum seekers stay in their jobs if they have mastered German. Germany also implemented the Blue Card scheme as soon as it came in, before any other EU country.
Mainly because of the language barrier and lack of historical links abroad, Germany has had much more trouble attracting talent than the UK has historically had - though there's a world shortage of various technical roles...