Firms are willing to recruit from third countries, but few do

Abstract

"Since 2023, Germany has reformed its rules on skilled labour immigration through the Skilled Labour Immigration Act 2.0, which was phased in over several stages. Around eighteen months after these reforms were completed, current findings from the IAB Job Vacancy Survey show that the vast majority of German establishments do not recruit workers from outside the EU. The picture varies considerably, though: larger establishments and those facing skilled labour shortages are notably more likely to recruit from third countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Jacoby, A. & Stips, F. (2026): Trotz grundsätzlich hoher Bereitschaft: Nur ein kleiner Teil der Betriebe rekrutiert aus Drittstaaten. (IAB-Kurzbericht 19/2026), Nürnberg, 8 p. DOI:10.48720/IAB.KB.2619