Immigration has become a top political issue in Europe, with the rise of far-right groups in particular increasing pressure on governments to curb immigration numbers.
But some countries, even those with openly anti-immigration stances, are trying to attract foreign workers to fill large labor shortages and sustain the continent’s aging economy. There is.
The European Union has identified 42 occupations facing labor shortages and developed an action plan to attract foreign workers. Nearly two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses in the region say they are unable to find the talent they need.
On the surface, many European leaders, especially those on the far right, advocate agreements with third countries to curb the entry of migrants or send them back to other countries. But with less fanfare, there are signs of a shift in policy that recognizes the need for immigration.
Italy to hire Indian nurses
Italy’s far-right government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has decided to hire hundreds of thousands of desperately needed foreign workers to fill a severe talent shortage.
Last year, the Italian government said, “In the three years from 2023 to 2025, the government expects a total of 452,000 people to enter the country,” which is more than “the required 833,000” workers. He also admitted that there were far fewer. period.
According to the IDOS Research Center, Italy will need 280,000 foreign workers annually until 2050 to address labor shortages in various sectors such as agriculture, tourism and healthcare. This corresponds to about half of the number of refugee applications filed last year. The country is facing labor shortages in 37 occupations, with nurses and other health professionals in highest demand.
The government recently announced it would recruit 10,000 nurses from India to fill the triple shortage. Italy’s Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said in October that India has an oversupply of nurses. India “has 3.3 million nurses,” he said. “We hope to bring about 10,000 people here.”
Sirasi said that once Indian nurses are confirmed to be professionally competent and able to speak Italian, they will be directly recruited in each region of Italy and placed where they are needed.
Maurizio Ambrosini, a sociology professor and immigration expert at the University of Milan, told DW that Meloni’s government is being forced to change policy by employers who desperately need workers.
“Italian employers have been completely silent on the immigration debate for years. I think they didn’t want to get into a fight with right-wing parties. But that’s no longer the case,” he said by phone. .
Many within his own coalition see the policy as a strong reversal from Meloni, who previously referred to pro-immigration policies as part of a left-wing conspiracy to “replace Italians with immigrants.” .
Attilio Lucia, a member of the far-right Alliance party and Lampedusa’s deputy mayor, said: “We were hoping that the situation would change now that we finally have a right-wing government, but things are worse on the right than on the left.” A small island that is a port where many immigrants arrive.
The Netherlands wants to maintain ‘knowledge immigration’
The companies may also have influenced the thinking of the new Dutch government, led by far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party.
ASML, the country’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, said its success depends on talented people, regardless of their origin. The company suggests that inbound migration should not be restricted. Approximately 40% of the company’s employees are foreign workers.
“We have built a company with over 100 nationalities,” ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in London last month. “Attracting talent from around the world is a must for success and we must continue to do so.”
The Netherlands is seeking exemption or “opt-out” from the EU’s asylum system, which treats asylum as a “fundamental right and international obligation of states”. Because of the right wing, skilled workers feel less welcome in this country.
But even far-right political groups have to grapple with the reality of how much foreign workers companies need to remain competitive.
The Netherlands has only slightly lowered its tax benefits for foreign workers from 30% to just 27%. The tax cut is one of the most attractive programs for talented young people to immigrate to the country, or what the government calls “knowledge migrants.”
“This is a relatively small change in the total net income of highly skilled foreign workers,” said Lisa Timm, an immigration researcher at the University of Amsterdam. I think so.”
Germany introduces “opportunity card”
Germany plans to issue 200,000 visas for skilled workers this year, a 10% increase from 2023. This is thanks to the “opportunity card” system, a residence permit that allows workers from countries outside the EU to come to Germany and look for work. It was introduced in June.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who recently visited India, said Germany was “open for skilled workers”, eased bureaucratic hurdles and increased visas for Indians from 20,000 to 90,000 a year. Agreed.
Germany needs around 400,000 new skilled workers a year to fill labor shortages, particularly in engineering, IT and healthcare, and is looking to add trained Indians to its potential workforce. We are anticipating it.
Meanwhile, the rise of the far-right, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in local elections and the summer knife attack in the western German town of Solingen have prompted Scholz to limit domestic border controls. was forced to approve. The EU will “curb immigration”.
Speaking on the issue in July, Scholz said that irregular immigration to Germany “must be reduced” but also stressed the need for skilled foreigners.
Public policy and policy of silence
Almost every country in Europe faces the same problem of aging workforce shortages. They don’t want it to look like they’re allowing immigrants into the country without visas, even though there’s an influx of immigrants.
Professor Ambrosini of the University of Milan said European countries were struggling to reconcile two different immigration policies, one of which was “border enforcement agreements with transit countries like Tunisia, or Italy’s Albania agreement. It is for national consumption, seeking “deportation to external facilities such as ”.
“Meanwhile, it is becoming clear that we need workers, and we are developing new policies to attract a workforce that includes both skilled and seasonal workers,” he said. Ta. “This second policy is a bit more hidden, less publicized and only visible to employer associations.”
At the end of the day, Ambrosini said, what matters is whether the government can say it’s in control of who gets into the country and who stays. But that’s a myth, at least when it comes to blue-collar jobs. This is because employers receive job offers from people already in Europe.
“For example, how does an employer know who to hire from Peru?”
Editor: Davis Vanopdorp
