IN LONDON: Germany is launching a digital platform to address the nation’s growing shortage of skilled workers across 163 occupations as of early 2026, driven by aging population.
Specific sectors needing skilled workers include IT, engineering, construction, skilled trade, transport and logistics, hospitals and schools.
Germany’s new digital platform aims to centralise applications, documentation and coordination between authorities – easing access for workers and employers including small and family-run businesses.
According to the European Commission, around 300,000 third-country nationals currently hold employment permits, with experts estimating that hundreds of thousands of new skilled workers are required each year to meet Germany’s labour market’s long-term needs.
A new study by Kompetenzzentrum Fachsicherung (KOFA) shows that migrant women represent significant potential to address Germany’s skilled labour gaps.
In 2024, around 520,000 migrant women in Germany were unemployed, many younger than average and overqualified for available positions, as reported by the European Commission.
This news comes after the German Bundestag published an evaluation of the Skilled Immigration Act. Introduced in 2023, the act aims to attract qualified professionals from abroad and support their integration into the labour market.
Reforms include an ‘opportunity card’ which allows no-EU citizens to enter Germany to seek employment and the ‘experience pillar’ which targets applicants with relevant work experience but non-recognised degrees.
Refugee integration into Germany’s labour market has strengthened in recent years.
A new study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) shows that 64% of refugees who arrived in 2015 were employed by 2024, approaching the national employment rate of 70%.
About 90% of employed refugees held regular jobs subject to social insurance or were self-employed.
Monthly Federal Employment Agency data for October 2025 indicate nearly 800,000 employed refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Eritrea, Somalia, Nigeria and Pakistan, with 695,000 in regular jobs and 104,500 in marginal employment.
On the southern hemisphere
In Australia, migrants are an integral part of the nation’s workforce with nearly 25% of Australian residents being born overseas and 50% of the population having an overseas-born parent, as reported.
Australian-born workers represent the highest share of people employed in Tasmania (82%) and the lowest share in Western Australia (58%), according to the federal government’s latest Australian Labour Market for Migrants publication.
Diversity has long been integral to Australia’s labour workforce — driving economic growth, addressing skills shortages, and enhancing workforce inclusivity. The Minerals Council of Australia reports the nation’s projected population will be 38 million by 2050 — meaning migration will contribute $1.6 trillion to the country’s GDP.
Australia’s mining industry is addressing the challenges surrounding the sector’s skills shortages and competition for talent — and First Nations and migrant workers are playing a crucial role in closing that gap, while also helping to drive economic growth.
In recent years, fewer young Australians have opted for careers in geology and related fields, as universities have increasingly reduced their earth science faculties.
In fact, this news service found that less than half of Australia’s 42 universities offered undergraduate or postgraduate degrees in geoscience — a trend that has only worsened over time.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: European Commission
