Signite's Magazine

According to the Federal Statistical Office, people working in healthcare and nursing professions earned significantly more last year than they did ten years ago. Full-time employees in this sector earned an average of €4,048 gross in April 2024, excluding special payments, compared with €2,829 gross in 2014. This means that the increase in earnings is […]

The shortage of skilled workers in key professions involved in the energy transition is becoming increasingly acute. Craft and technical professions, which are essential for the expansion of renewable energies, are particularly affected. This is the result of a study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) at the employer-friendly German Economic Institute […]

Since January, employers and trade unions have been arguing about future incomes and working hours in the public sector at federal and municipal level. This led to several strikes, and in the end mediators had to intervene. A collective agreement was finally reached recently. It affects more than 2.5 million municipal and federal employees. These […]

The State Agency for the Immigration of Skilled Workers (LZF) has been active in Baden-Württemberg since 1 April. The new authority is intended to facilitate the immigration of skilled workers and strengthen Baden-Württemberg as a business location by serving as a central point of contact for companies. Specifically, it is about digitised processing of applications, […]

Economic downturn or not, the metal and electrical industry in northern Germany is still in great need of skilled labour. Depending on the company, there is currently a shortage of between 10 and 20 per cent of skilled workers. According to a survey by the Nordmetall trade union, around 42,000 skilled workers are currently being […]

Carers employed in public institutions, i.e. those belonging to the state, will receive more money in the first half of 2024. From 1 March, nursing staff employed in public institutions will receive more money. This is the result of the agreement reached in collective bargaining for the public sector at federal and municipal level. Their […]

According to the latest Skilled Labour Report from the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), more than 80 percent of German companies fear negative consequences for their economic development due to labour shortages. The labour shortage is already forcing 40% of companies to reduce their own range of services, while others are losing orders, […]

The German Professional Association for Nursing Professions (DBfK) has accused hospital employers of not taking enough action against the shortage of nursing staff. There is too often a lack of introduction of more attractive roles for nursing staff and modern, i.e. more flexible working time models. The reform of hospital structures currently being discussed by […]

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, staffing levels in health and care have grown noticeably again. The trend in the inpatient sector differed from that in the outpatient sector. At the end of December 2024, a total of just under 6.2 million people were employed in the German healthcare sector, 102,000 more than […]

Germans love abbreviations. And they need them too. Because they also love long, complex, unwieldy names – especially when it comes to laws. That’s why the new Nursing Competence Act is also called the ‘Act on the Expansion of Powers and Debureaucratisation in Nursing’, abbreviated to BEEP. The Bundesrat, the representative body of the federal […]

For nursing staff, the minimum wage, i.e. the minimum salary, is to be increased in two further steps. From July 2026, the minimum wage for unskilled nursing assistants from the current €16.10 to €16.52 per hour, rising to €16.95 a year later; qualified nursing assistants with at least one year of training will see their […]

The German Bundestag has passed a law to expand the powers of nursing staff and reduce bureaucracy in the nursing care sector. Nursing staff will be given significantly more powers and bureaucracy in nursing care is to be reduced. In future, nursing staff will also be allowed to carry out certain medical treatments on their […]

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic, staffing levels in health and care have grown noticeably again. The trend in the inpatient sector differed from that in the outpatient sector. At the end of December 2024, a total of just under 6.2 million people were employed in the German healthcare sector, 102,000 more than […]

Germans love abbreviations. And they need them too. Because they also love long, complex, unwieldy names – especially when it comes to laws. That’s why the new Nursing Competence Act is also called the ‘Act on the Expansion of Powers and Debureaucratisation in Nursing’, abbreviated to BEEP. The Bundesrat, the representative body of the federal […]

For nursing staff, the minimum wage, i.e. the minimum salary, is to be increased in two further steps. From July 2026, the minimum wage for unskilled nursing assistants from the current €16.10 to €16.52 per hour, rising to €16.95 a year later; qualified nursing assistants with at least one year of training will see their […]

The German Bundestag has passed a law to expand the powers of nursing staff and reduce bureaucracy in the nursing care sector. Nursing staff will be given significantly more powers and bureaucracy in nursing care is to be reduced. In future, nursing staff will also be allowed to carry out certain medical treatments on their […]