German economy needs more migrants to boost growth: Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasizes the need for Germany to attract skilled workers to offset an aging workforce and stimulate economic growth. Despite economic challenges, employment among migrants has increased. Scholz promotes new immigration law...
By Bloomberg |
ET Online
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany must attract more skilled workers from abroad and move faster to integrate new arrivals into the labor market to help get the struggling economy back on track.
Germany’s potential output growth is expected to fall below 0.4% in coming years, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, largely as a result of its population aging out of the workforce. To fill this gap, Scholz’s ruling coalition has tried to bring in more skilled laborers — an effort that has become increasingly difficult as anti-migrant parties have gained support.
“There is no country in the world whose economy is growing in the long term and which has a shrinking labor force,” Scholz said in an address to a labor conference at the chancellery on Monday. “That’s why we must do everything, absolutely everything, to get those who are already here into work as quickly as possible.”
Despite a difficult economic environment, people from Ukraine and other major sources of asylum seekers have seen their employment numbers increase year-over-year in Germany, the center-left leader added.
“We want Germany to remain a growing country. To this end, we have created a modern immigration law, a growth initiative that incentivizes work, better childcare facilities and, last but not least, the job turbo,” Scholz said, referencing a package of government measures designed to help migrants move into the job market more quickly. Among them are loosening restrictions on language requirements.
Bloomberg reported earlier on Monday that officials in Berlin are set to lower their 2024 economic forecast to stagnation at best, down from a previous projection of 0.3%.
Such an outcome would mean yet another lost year for the German economy. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country has struggled with rising gas prices, as well as feeble Chinese demand and difficulties pivoting to electric-vehicle production.
Volkswagen AG’s threat to close domestic factories and Intel Corp’s decision to postpone a €30 billion ($33.5 billion) investment in a new chip plant have added to the economic headwinds bearing down on Germany.
Should Donald Trump return to the White House, it could create a perfect storm that would depress GDP even further, one person familiar with the government’s analysis said.
Germany’s potential output growth is expected to fall below 0.4% in coming years, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, largely as a result of its population aging out of the workforce. To fill this gap, Scholz’s ruling coalition has tried to bring in more skilled laborers — an effort that has become increasingly difficult as anti-migrant parties have gained support.
“There is no country in the world whose economy is growing in the long term and which has a shrinking labor force,” Scholz said in an address to a labor conference at the chancellery on Monday. “That’s why we must do everything, absolutely everything, to get those who are already here into work as quickly as possible.”
Despite a difficult economic environment, people from Ukraine and other major sources of asylum seekers have seen their employment numbers increase year-over-year in Germany, the center-left leader added.
“We want Germany to remain a growing country. To this end, we have created a modern immigration law, a growth initiative that incentivizes work, better childcare facilities and, last but not least, the job turbo,” Scholz said, referencing a package of government measures designed to help migrants move into the job market more quickly. Among them are loosening restrictions on language requirements.
Bloomberg reported earlier on Monday that officials in Berlin are set to lower their 2024 economic forecast to stagnation at best, down from a previous projection of 0.3%.
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Such an outcome would mean yet another lost year for the German economy. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country has struggled with rising gas prices, as well as feeble Chinese demand and difficulties pivoting to electric-vehicle production.
Volkswagen AG’s threat to close domestic factories and Intel Corp’s decision to postpone a €30 billion ($33.5 billion) investment in a new chip plant have added to the economic headwinds bearing down on Germany.
Should Donald Trump return to the White House, it could create a perfect storm that would depress GDP even further, one person familiar with the government’s analysis said.
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