Employing migrants is intended not only to help deal with illegal immigration, but above all to help fill gaps in the EU. There are many of them, because there is a shortage of workers in 42 professions, including medicine, construction, IT, engineering and even services. Medium and small companies have the greatest problems with finding specialists, while large ones cope better.
“Shortage of specialists”
The situation will get worse because, on the one hand, EU societies are aging, which means that the number of citizens of working age is shrinking, and on the other hand, development requires highly qualified specialists that universities cannot keep up with producing. It is estimated that the green transformation alone will create 1 to 2.5 million new jobs over the next seven years, which there is no one to fill today.
– We have shortages of specialists in many areas. Of course, the best solution would be to fill the gaps with native workers, says DW Krzysztof Pater from the European Economic and Social Committee, representing, among others, employers. However, as he emphasizes, the EU does not have them today. The expert adds that there is a significant imbalance in the labor market between member states.
Some countries more affected
In fact, according to the think tank Jacques Delors Center based in, some Member States are more affected by labor shortages. This group included Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Germany, where at the end of 2022 the vacancy rate was 4.4%. compared to 2.2 percent a decade earlier. This is higher than the EU average of 2.8%. Interestingly, in 2021 the German Labor Office reported that to effectively close employment gaps, Germany would have to employ 400,000 people. migrants per year.
Poland is still among the countries where the job vacancy rate is quite low (0.9%), although here too the percentage of vacancies has tripled over the last decade. Some countries are trying to deal with this problem themselves by introducing regulations facilitating the employment of workers from third countries. As DW wrote a year ago, the German government adopted several initiatives modernizing migration regulations, including regulations facilitating obtaining dual citizenship, family reunification and integration courses.
– Everything to make countries more attractive for workers from third countries and facilitate their employment – notes Lucas Rasche from Jacques Delors in an article on the think tank’s website. He adds that similar legislative steps have also been taken by, among others: Spain and, and even Hungary, so far known for their tough resistance to migration.
“Just like Tinder”
However, there is still no common EU policy on attracting migrants to the EU labor market. This is about to change. On Wednesday (November 15, 2023), the European Commission announced the creation of an EU online platform to connect non-EU specialists looking for work with EU employers. This idea is not new, as the EC already announced the creation of such a database as part of the migration pact in 2020, but has not done much since then. – She hindered us – explained Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas during a meeting with journalists.
The so-called EU Talent Pool is intended to connect professionals from outside the EU with EU employers. The former will be able to register their profile here along with information regarding their qualifications, skills, professional experience and language skills. The latter will be able to publish job vacancies via the platform. – and employers will be able to search for each other using filters and use a tool that will enable them to create a list of best matches – explain EU officials. – It’s just like that – writes the website Politico, comparing the platform to a popular dating site.
The platform will also contain information on immigration regulations in various Member States and rules for recognizing the qualifications of foreign workers. However, critics are already accusing the EC that the project does not contain precise guidelines on the recognition of foreigners’ diplomas, but only very general assurances that the Commission “will recommend to member states to facilitate the procedures.”
These are not the only allegations. EU and human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the European Trade Union Confederation, warned in a joint statement that if the EU wants to attract migrants, it must ensure they are treated fairly, on an equal footing with local workers, and that employers do not try to exploit them . According to Commissioner Schinas, there is no such risk, because only proven entrepreneurs based in the EU will have access to the platform, and everything will also be controlled by national offices of the Member States.
During the EC’s meeting with the media, there were also suggestions that migrants may want to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the EU and then, at a favorable moment, leave for a “better” EU country. – We are not afraid of this possibility, remember that employees will be bound by a contract with the employer, said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.
The EU is losing to the US and Canada
Another thing is that market analysts indicate that the European Union is not a very popular destination for qualified specialists. A report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assessing the attractiveness of countries for foreign workers shows that specialists are more likely to choose Canada and Australia instead of the EU. The decisive factor here may be the language, as well as the size of the labor market – the larger it is, the more employment opportunities it offers and the lower the risk that migrants will be employed below their qualifications.
– Let’s not kid ourselves that if we want to attract specialists, we have to offer them appropriate remuneration – notes Krzysztof Pater in an interview with DW. This is probably why non-EU migrants are more willing to look for employment in countries with strong economies, such as the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria. Given that the EU has the ambition to become a world leader in innovation, it will have to make an effort to attract the interest of external workers.
Source: Gazeta
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