Germany needs more foreign workers, including Vietnamese

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel . Photo: REUTERS

"Many fields and businesses are looking for skilled workers. So we must make every effort to recruit enough experts. Otherwise companies will move away," The German Deutsche Welle newspaper quoted Merkel’s saying on December 14.

Merkel's remarks came ahead of a workshop between the German government, employers and unions, on human resources, in Berlin on December 16.

According to Chancellor Merkel, Germany is trying to address the labor shortage in the country by promoting training as well as seeking laborers from neighboring countries in the European Union (EU).

"But that is not enough and that is why we are looking for skilled workers outside the EU," Merkel said.

According to Deutsche Welle, the German Government is looking for workers from countries like Vietnam, Mexico, Philippines, Brazil, India.

Germany intends to apply new immigration laws from March 1, 2020 to create conditions for workers outside the EU to enter the country. The workshop on December 16 is also expected to discuss issues such as visas for workers or the expansion of German language training for migrant workers.

Germany currently lacks electronics engineers, mechatronics, computer scientists, software developers, chefs, nurses and elderly care staff.

In response to concerns about the admission of migrant workers, German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil emphasized that "This is not an uncontrolled immigration, but we need qualified people to sustain the country's economy in the future."