e bridge bulletin 14 - springtime for workers

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Bulletin 14

May/June 2011

w w w . 2 m o b i l i t y . e u

E-Bridge to mobility was created ater observing theEU labour market and analysing the needs o EasternEurope emigrants (especially those rom Bulgaria,Poland, Romania and Sl ovakia).They move rom one EU country to another (inparticular the U.K., Germany and Spain) oreducational, fnancial or social reasons.

Nowadays, the Germans are count-

ing on proessionals rom Eastern

Europe, who will ll the gap in the

labour market, mainly in the east o

the country. As much as 70% o Fed-

eral Republic o Germany citizensexpect the ull opening o the labour

market or workers rom the East to

have negative consequences on their

country and only 16% o Germans

eel positive about migrants rom

the east o Europe. Still, a great ma-

jority o German experts are o the

opinion that this ear is unou nded

and the migration level o workers

rom eastern Europe should remain

unchanged. According to the Cen-

tral Oce o Statistics, around 400

thousand Poles were employed in

seasonal work in Germany in recent

years. The statistics concerning other

east European countries are similar.

Springtime for workers

from the East

Those who were not able to nd a job in German companies, decided to

set up their own businesses, providing services or German employers at

the same time. Thereore, the statistics should not change signicantly ater

the 1st o May 2011.

Despite much apprehension, the Germans are waiting impatiently or

proessionals rom eastern Europe. The German labour market is in need

o highly qualied workers, such as engineers and IT specialists. It is esti-

mated that German companies need around 36 thousand engineers and

66 thousand IT specialists. The Germans also have a decit o more than 30

thousand technicians, including welders, tters, mechanics, mechatronic

engineers and electricians. Those specialists should have no problems

in nding jobs. Germany, like the whole o Europe, is struggling with the

consequences o an ageing society, and they are ready to employ 80 thou-

sand care workers, as well as 20 thousand doctors and nurses right away.

On the one hand, sceptics are mainly araid o wage dumping by compa-

nies rom eastern Europe, as well as an increase in unair business practices

by German companies, which are going to employ large number o mi-

grants ater the 1st o May. In the majority o German business lines there

are no xed minimum wages, which could prevent an uncontrolled inow

o cheap labour rom the east or at least guarantee comparable wages or

German citizens and immigrants alike.

On the 1st of May the German labour market will beopened up to workers from new member States.Germany has taken much longer than most other

European countries to open its labour market to workersfrom the East, seven years, in fact, mainly due to the fearof an uncontrolled influx of low-paid workers.



BEFORE YOU LEAVE:

Basic inormation about job-related

travel can be obtained at EURES

units in Public Labour Oces, which

represent Public Employment Serv-

ices and their partners on the EU

labour market. For example, beore

leaving it is worth nding out wherethe nearest consulate is and take not

only an ID, but also a passport, which

can be more useul when opening

a bank account. German labour law

denes a working day as being 8

hours, any overtime worked should

be paid time and a hal.In Germany

an employee may also reuse to

work overtime. Beore leaving it is

worth to have all documents and

certicates ,which you may need oryour job search in Germany, translat-

ed. Currently, unemployment ben-

et is 1200 Euro a month. People,

who have worked legally or at least

6 months are entitled to receive it.

The „E-bridge” partners:

On the other hand, the Germans

hope that opening up the labour

market will help to ll the demo-

graphic gap in the east o Germany.

There is huge demand or young,

talented Europeans, who would

like to work on the other side o

the Oder river. The Germans would

rather see them settling in the east-ern part o the country. This, howev-

er, may difer signicantly rom the

expectations o eastern Europeans,

who would rather look or their new

place o residence and work in the

western part o Germany. Research

indicates that the great majority o

immigrants entering the Federal

Republic o Germany head or the

west. For example, Polish engineers

have had easier access to job search-

ing in the German market since 2007

and in 2009 employment barriers or

university graduates were removed.

Thereore, ater the 1st o May 2011

a mass migration o Europeans rom

the east to the other side o the Oder

river in search o a means o earning

a living,is rather unlikely. Those who

will decide to change their place

o work and residence will also mi-grate to an area where they can earn

more. The wage gap between the

east and the west is so signicant

that young Europeans would preer

to work in west Germany. We may

wonder whether the expectations

o Germans seeking qualied staf

rom the east who are looking or

development opportunities will be

ullled.

Unemployment in Germany

2004 11.7 %

2005 13,0 %

2006 12,0 %

2007 10,1 %

2008 8,7 %

2009 9,1 %

2010 8,6 %

Source: Bundesagentur ur Arbeit

Wages in the west can be as much

as 15% higher than a national av-

erage salary, while in the ormer

GDR they can all to 25% lower.

Thus, expectations on both sides

may not reect the real situation.

Those Germans who are expecting

a sudden inow o cheap labour may

be disappointed, as migration is not

likely to increase and it will remain at

300 to 400 thousand people a year.

Even i the number o Europeans

rom the ormer eastern block coun-

tries coming to work in Germany willgrow, it will not happen overnight,

as it is ar more likely to be be a long

term process. Eastern Europeans

who were looking or proessional

opportunities a ew years ago, went

to the British Isles, added to the act

that since accession to the EU ar

more people have learnt English

than German, the linguistic element

has also changed signicantly.



The „E-bridge” partners:

Full benet is paid ater a year o work. Apart rom the benet, workers

are also entitled to sick leave on ull pay and maternity leave. Moreover,

parents are also entitled to amily credit.

As a result o demographic problems, Germany is in need o or quali-

ed staf in the coming years and the country has concerns or its uture.

Thereore, Germans would like to attract the youngest generation o Euro-

peans. An enrolment campaign aimed at thousands o secondary schoolstudents, who are ofered not only ree education in German schools, ac-

commodation and ull-board, but also a scholarship and guaranteed em-

ployment, is to be launched in 2011. Poor knowledge o German is not

an obstacle, since the students would learn the language on the spot.

Brandenburg, Saxony, Mecklenburg or Thuringia are hoping that young

Europeans will choose to settle down there. In these regions the number

o candidates or vocational training has dropped by 50-60% in the last 7

years. It is hoped that young Europeans rom eastern Europe will ll this

gap.

Only ater a ew decades will we nd out whether workers rom easternEurope will have supplied the answer to German demographic problems.

The whole o Europe is struggling with the issue o ageing. It is estimated

that Europe will become the only region in the world with a negative birth

rate o around -0.28 percent and the percentage o retirees will grow rom

37 in 2007 to 72 in 2060. In terms o demography Poland is currently a rela-

tively young country, compared to other EU countries, but in the uture

the population will age rapidly.

Occupaon Berlin Dresden Dusseldorf Erfurt Frankfurt/M Hamburg Munich

secretary 2547 2175 2848 1994 2929 2713 2927

bricklayer 2543 2172 2843 1991 2924 2708 2922

cook 1796 1534 2008 1406 2065 1913 2063

nurse 2474 2516 2766 1937 2845 2635 2843

dental assistant 1815 1550 2030 1421 2088 1933 2086

care worker 2111 1809 2368 1658 2436 2256 2433

electrician 2616 2234 2924 2048 3008 2786 3005

* wage diferences in Euro in diferent areas o business in some German cities.

e bridge bulletin 14 - springtime for workers

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