Germany is facing shortage of workers, universities and companies told the government – ‘Give student visas to foreign students quickly’

Study in Germany: Germany is facing a shortage of workers, which is going to have a direct impact on the country’s economy. In view of the current situation, both German universities and industry have requested the government to make efforts to attract and retain foreign students to study in the country. he/she has requested the German government to speed up visa processing as an initial step. Lakhs of students are currently studying in Germany, including Indians.
In fact, these requests have been made to the government at a time when there is a shortage of workers in the country, due to which jobs are being given to foreign students. According to the ‘German Academic Exchange Service’ (DAAD), a record 4,05,000 foreign students have taken admission in Germany for the winter semester of 2024/2025. Most of the students are from India, China, Syria, Austria and Türkiye. Around 40 thousand Indian students are studying in Germany. Germany is quite popular because of its low tuition fees.

What has been said to the government?

Three major groups like ‘German Reactors Conference’ (HRK), ‘Confederation of German Employers Association’ (BDA) and ‘Federation of German Industries’ (BDI) have written a letter to the government. It emphasizes how important it is to take advantage of the potential of foreign students for the progress of the country. Foreign students receive training to meet the demands of the country’s labor market. Therefore, they can play an important role in removing the talent shortage in various sectors.

The group has advocated stronger collaboration between universities and industry, so that foreign students can easily enter the labor market. he/she said that students should be given career guidance during their studies, special training should be given before and after graduation and internship opportunities within German companies should be increased. “Internships during their studies give students the opportunity to become familiar with German work culture and technical language,” the HRK spokesperson added.

To remain competitive at the global level, German universities have been asked to launch multilingual programs to attract international talent. Especially in English language. The letter requests money be spent to expand student support services and supervision. There has also been talk of providing more student accommodation options to meet the needs of foreign students.