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IMMIGRATION

‘Germany needs 500,000 new immigrants every year’

Germany is grappling with a ticking demographic time bomb. The Local spoke with FDP politician Christian Dürr who says immigration is the key to the country's future.

Published: 7 January 2020 16:39 CET
'Germany needs 500,000 new immigrants every year'
A skilled worker in Bremen. Photo: DPA

As a society, we are living longer – and that's a good thing. But there is a lot of debate over how to stop Germany's welfare system buckling under the pressure of an ageing population.

The Local spoke with Christian Dürr, deputy chairman of the pro-business Free Democrats' (FDP) parliamentary group, who recently wrote a guest commentary for German daily Die Welt on the country's need for more newcomers.

The Local: How important is immigration to Germany and why?

Christian Dürr: Immigration is essential to Germany‘s future. We are the second-oldest country in the world, and soon will experience a huge retirement wave. Our birth rates are low, so without immigration the country will regress. At the same time, immigration fosters diversity, which in turn makes us a better country and a better society.

READ ALSO: Germany's future depends on immigration and integration

You mentioned the pension system being at breaking point in your commentary for Die Welt. Why do you think this?

Our pension system is pay as you go – the current working generation is paying directly into the pension fund that distributes money to pensioners. The system worked perfectly back in the 1950s, but over the years the balance of working people to pensioners has skewed dramatically toward the latter. Soon, additional subsidies were necessary to guarantee pension payments. Today, that subsidy is more than €100 billion, roughly a third of our federal budget in 2020. This is neither sustainable nor fair to the future generations.

READ ALSO: Should people without children be forced to pay more tax in Germany?

How many new immigrants do you think Germany needs every year?

In the article you mentioned earlier, I wrote that 500,000 immigrants were needed per year. That‘s roughly the amount we need to counter the demographic change. One crucial point, though: we need to make sure that people get direct access to our labour market, and we need to attract skilled labour more ambitiously. Unfortunately, our government has failed to address this issue.

You say the current immigration laws are not working. Why?

Because they‘re way too complicated! When I hear stories of people waiting for a year to have their embassy meetings, when they tell me about the mountain of paperwork they need to comb through, I get the feeling the government is actively trying to make the system as difficult as possible. We need to target skilled workers in a way that Canada does, for instance.

READ ALSO: How Germany is set to make it easier to attract non-EU skilled workers

Christian Dürr, member of the German Bundestag and deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group. Photo courtesy of Christian Dürr.

You mentioned that integrated workers in Germany are being deported while criminals are not. Do you have any examples of this? Why do you think this is happening?

A few months ago, a logistics company reached out to me. One of their employees, a Pakistani refugee who had started working in their Headquarters, was about to be deported. He decided to flee Pakistan due to religious persecution and knew he couldn’t go back any time soon. In Germany, he learned the language, worked his way up within the company and made friends in the town he got moved to. After two years the government deported him because his refugee status expired.

The government passed new laws recently to attract foreign skilled vocational workers with German language skills and to make it easier for rejected asylum seekers to evade an ordered deportation. Do you think this will help the situation?

That bill was a huge disappointment to anyone who wants a sensible immigration policy. All it did was tinkering with minor immigration guidelines that increase immigration by 25.000 per year – that‘s five percent of what we need. It completely ignored the way we decide who to deport and failed to address the underlying issues in our immigration system.

READ ALSO: What Germany's new controversial immigration laws mean for foreigners

What kind of immigration laws do you think Germany needs?

Sensible ones! We need to start differentiating between the different reasons for immigration – asylum, refuge, economic immigration. And it has to be transparent, so that people not only in Germany, but everywhere in the world know who gets to move here to stay, and who does not.

What do you think will happen if there is no change?

We‘ll get older as a country, and will fall behind as a society as well as an economy. The longer we don’t address the obvious issues, the stronger the far right will get – if we fail to facilitate legal immigration, illegal immigration will rise. Right-wing parties will get stronger, and we will get weaker as a country and as a European Union.

READ ALSO: Explained: How Germany plans to fight its drastic shortage of care workers

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Four steps to take straight away after losing your job in Germany

Losing a job can be a nightmare situation for foreigners in Germany - but following these simple steps will get you back on your feet in no time.

Published: 10 September 2024 16:34 CEST
Updated: 15 September 2024 08:14 CEST
Four steps to take straight away after losing your job in Germany

In times of economic downturn, layoffs are far from unusual – but that doesn’t make it any more difficult for the people who find themselves suddenly left without work.

For foreigners in Germany, the situation is even more frightening. You may wonder whether your residence status is in jeopardy, how hard it will be to find another position, and whether you can support yourself while you look for another job.

Though it may be hard to think clearly at a time like this, following these four simple steps will set you in good stead to move forward – and hopefully, it won’t be long before another dream opportunity comes your way. 

1. Negotiate your terms 

Before signing or agreeing to anything, it’s crucial that you’re familiar with your rights and understand how much notice your employer has to give you and what kind of settlement you may be owed.

Generally, the rule of thumb is that you get half a month of severance for every year you worked at the company. That said, higher settlements can be negotiated in return for signing a termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag), so you may want to seek legal advice before settling. 

Even during a probationary period, your employer will also have to give you a certain amount of notice before your last working day. During the interim, you can either work for the company or be put on what is known as gardening leave in English, where you stay home but are paid as if you were working.

This can all be negotiated as part of a termination agreement, so you should think carefully about what works best for you and consider speaking to your labour council (Betriebsrat) or a legal specialist before making any firm decisions. You should also be aware that you have no obligation to sign any agreement and can legally dispute the layoff if you want to. 

READ ALSO: Can I get unemployment benefits in Germany if I quit my job?

2. Get all the necessary documents from your employer

Once the terms of the layoff are final, ensure that your employer gives you all the necessary documents you need to navigate the next phase of German bureaucracy.

The main two to think about first are the confirmation of work (Arbeitsbescheinung) and the confirmation of your holiday entitlement (Urlaubsbescheinigung).

The first can be sent to the Agentur für Arbeit (jobcentre) as proof of your last job and recent layoff, while the second will help your next employer calculate your vacation days for the rest of the year.

An Arbeitszeugnis, or German letter of reference

An Arbeitszeugnis, or German letter of reference. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Zacharie Scheurer

On top of these documents, you’ll want to ask your employer for a letter of reference (Arbeitszeugnis), which is useful for finding a new job in Germany.

You should also keep hold of your last payslip and statement of earnings (Lohnsteuerabrechnung), which are helpful for tax purposes and may also be requested by the Agentur für Arbeit.

Speaking of which… 

3. Register as unemployed with the Agentur für Arbeit

As soon as you know that you are soon to be unemployed, you should register as a jobseeker with the Agentur für Arbeit. To get full unemployment benefits, you usually have to do this within three days of receiving your termination notice or at least three months before leaving.

Depending on what type of residence permit you’re on, you may or may not be entitled to long-term unemployment benefits (ALG II), but most employees are able to get unemployment insurance (ALG I), which covers a proportion of your former salary while you look for a new role.

It’s important to be a little bit careful here, as claiming long-term unemployment benefits (ALG II) can affect any future citizenship applications. Any severance pay you agree to can also result in you losing some months of unemployment benefits, so these are all factors you will have to consider while deciding on the best way forward. 

READ ALSO: What happens to your work permit if you lose your job in Germany?

4. Inform the immigration office 

If you’re on a residence permit that is linked to your job in some way, like a Blue Card or work visa, you’ll need to inform the immigration office about your change in circumstances as soon as possible.

This should be done in writing, and in German, within two weeks of receiving your termination notice.

You should include all relevant personal information, such as date of birth, residence permit type, and nationality, as well as the date of your final day at work. As proof of the layoff, you should also enclose a copy of your termination agreement or a letter from your employer. 

People enter the immigration office

For foreigners who move to Germany and settle in Berlin, a visit to the Berliner Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA) is ultimately unavoidable. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Britta Pedersen

In most cases, the immigration office will give you between 3 and 12 months to look for a new job. If they give you a shorter period, be aware that you may be able to negotiate an extension later on if you are struggling to find work through no fault of your own.

Above all, stay positive. Though it may feel like one door has closed, another one is sure to open. This being Germany, you may just have to wade through a sea of paperwork to get there.

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