Germany is a Western European country with a landscape of forests, rivers, mountain ranges, and North Sea beaches with over 83.02 million population, Germany is facing a shortage of nurses and caregivers. Germany’s nursing sector is suffering an acute skills shortage, due in part to the aging population. At the same time, there are not enough jobs for qualified nurses abroad, especially in countries outside the European Union.
For years, Germany has reported a dearth of nurses and caregivers. According to the report around 50,000 positions need to be filled. And the German Nursing Council (DPR) predicts up to 300,000 vacant positions may have to be filled by 2030.
In 2013, the federal employment agency launched a recruitment drive, encouraging foreign nurses and caregivers to relocate to Germany, and from that drive, around 4,000 nurses and caregivers from abroad have come to Germany. Due to workload and improper life-work balance, many nurses are retiring earlier than they used to be which is a concerning problem for the healthcare system.
Germany plans to hire more nurses from overseas. Health Minister Jens Spahn has made an effort to ease the hiring of foreign workers, but the coronavirus pandemic brought this recruitment drive to a halt.