e bridge bulletin 14 - springtime for workers
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8/6/2019 E Bridge Bulletin 14 - Springtime for workers
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This project has been unded with support rom theEuropean Commission. This publication reects theviews only o the author, and the Commission cannot beheld responsible or any use which may be made o theinormation contained therein.
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.
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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.
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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.