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Twelve months after the BQ information portal for foreign professional qualifications first went online, the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, Dr. Philipp Rösler, looked back on a successful year and stressed that additional support should be provided to companies wanting to have foreign qualifications recognised.
The new Employment Ordinance has been in force since 1 July. The list of occupations in which people with vocational training qualifications from non-EU countries can access the German labour market is now also in place. Following the "EU Blue Card" for the highly skilled, the improved recognition of foreign vocational qualifications and the relaxations in the rules for students from non-EU countries who wish to stay on to work in Germany, this is a further important step towards making it easier for workers from outside the EU to enter the German labour market and towards covering the skills gap in the German economy via migration.
The BQ Portal was recognised as the best and most innovative performer in public administrations across Europe. During an award ceremony which took place on 18 November, the BQ Portal was awarded the European Public Sector Award trophy in the European/national/regional category by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA).
For 10 years, the official website "Make it in Germany" has accompanied many stories in the field of skilled immigration. On the anniversary page, qualified professionals share their personal experiences, voices from the partner network reflect on political developments and employers provide insights into successful recruitment abroad. Moreover, the timeline shows how the project has developed in the last 10 years.
In Germany thanks to the three central information portals for recognition of foreign professional qualifications, “BQ-Portal”, “Recognition in Germany” and “anabin”, there is a wide range of information on the recognition process. From now on, the new project “ProRecognition” aims to offer also in other countries comprehensive information on the possibilities of having foreign qualifications recognised in Germany.
In most OECD European countries and in the United States, labour migration in 2022 was at a 15 year record level. Year-on-year increases in the primary destination countries were striking: the number of new permanent-type labour migrants increased by 59% in Germany.
Refugees are increasingly succeeding in integrating into the German labour market. Particularly female refugees benefit from improved recognition and training opportunities for their qualifications in the teaching and health care sectors.
From 1 July onwards, skilled workers from non-EU countries will find it easier to relocate to Germany. On that date, the new Employment Act will come into effect, which is aimed at counteracting the current shortage of skilled workers and enhancing Germany’s position in the worldwide competition for qualified professionals. Not an easy task, as other large Western economies and newly industrialised countries are also adapting their immigration policies.
The Federal Cabinet adopted today the report on the Recognition Act. Since the introduction of the Recognition Act four years ago, the number of applications has been growing significantly. In 2012-2014 some 44.000 applications for recognition of professional qualifications were submitted only in the field of federally regulated professions, 17.600 of which were filed in 2014. Those who submit an application for recognition of a qualification obtained abroad have good chances of receiving positive ruling.
Immigrants perform worse in the labor market than natives, likely because of the low transferability of home-country professional certificates. The standardized recognition of professional certificates in the host country represents one policy for increasing their transferability.This paper investigates the effects of a large recognition reform in Germany on the labor market outcomes of non-EU immigrants.