The shortage of skilled labour in Germany is a major challenge for many companies. This is why more and more German companies are turning to foreign skilled labour. Find out here how you can attract them to your company!
Table of contents
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Effects of the skills shortage on German companies
According to a Study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Workers (KOFA) between summer 2023 and summer 2024, there was a shortfall of around 532,000 qualified specialists. There is a particularly large shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare, construction, public administration, defence, social security and retail sectors.
Although the shortage of skilled labour has decreased slightly compared to the previous year, the shortage of skilled workers remains at a "very high level", which is primarily due to the demographic problem. And as many people will be retiring in the coming years, it can be assumed that the staff shortage could become even more acute.
As a result, there is no sign of a reduction in the shortage of skilled labour in the coming years; the challenge will remain great.
The good news is that there are short-term solutions for German companies to employ qualified workers despite the shortage of skilled labour.
Employing foreign skilled labour: Two possibilities
We are talking about foreign skilled labour. The advantage lies in the fact that taking foreign skilled workers into account opens up a pool of qualified labour that remains untapped by most German companies.
There are two main ways in which German companies can employ foreign skilled workers: personnel placement and temporary work, also known as temporary employment or labour leasing.
1. personnel placement
Recruitment is when a recruitment agency looks for employees for another company. The recruitment agency is therefore responsible for recruiting; the employees found or placed in this way are then employed in the conventional manner by the company that hired the recruitment agency. The skilled workers placed in this way can also come from abroad. Learn more >>>
2. temporary work
The second way for a German company to employ foreign skilled labour is through temporary work. This solution is also known as personnel leasing, employee leasing or temporary work. It refers to the temporary hiring of staff from another company - in this case from a foreign company. In contrast to personnel placement, where the employee is employed directly by the German company, temporary work means that the employees are and remain employed by the hiring company. They are simply loaned out - for a limited period of time.
The advantages of temporary work are obvious. Firstly, there is the high degree of predictability. As it involves the temporary hiring of employees, companies can cover their exact requirements, e.g. in the event of staff shortages or project peaks.
The second major advantage of temporary work with foreign specialists is the high cost efficiency: foreign specialists, e.g. from Eastern Europe, are often cheaper than German ones. In addition, temporary staffing saves you the potentially costly process of recruiting "on your own". Learn more>>>

Foreign skilled workers: these are the challenges
Foreign skilled workers could therefore be the key to overcoming the staff shortage. But of course, employing foreign skilled workers also has its own challenges, which should also be mentioned here.
First and foremost, there are many legal framework conditions that must be observed. Temporary employment, for example, is regulated by the Law on the Regulation of Temporary Employment (Temporary Employment Act - AÜG) regulated.
Employing foreign specialists also means being able to deal with language and cultural barriers.
And, of course, it must be ensured that the skilled workers recruited from abroad really do have all the necessary qualifications to work in Germany or to do a good job.
The easiest way to overcome all these challenges is to work with an experienced, specialised personnel service provider. This is the only way to guarantee professional qualifications, compliance with the legal framework and the smooth running of the entire process!
Zeitarbeit International - Your personnel service provider for skilled workers from abroad
We are a personnel service provider specialising in Eastern Europe. We organise temporary employment and recruitment of engineers and technicians from countries such as Poland, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and other Eastern European countries.
Would you like to know exactly how we can help you attract foreign skilled labour to your company? Write us a message!
