Signite's Magazine

Patient advocates and nursing associations in Germany have expressed alarm at the increasing shortage of staff in nursing homes. Christine Vogler, President of the German Nursing Council, emphasised: ‘In many places, nursing care in Germany is no longer guaranteed’.  In inpatient long-term care alone, there is a shortage of around 115,000 full-time professional carers. At […]

Rashid Hamid now has over 300,000 followers on Instagram. It all started with the fact that he wanted to post a few videos from his everyday life as an outpatient carer, showing excerpts from his working day. He hadn’t expected it to go so viral. The success of the “carer with heart and soul” lies […]

Companies active in the building cleaning trade in Germany remain pessimistic about the future. According to a survey by the industry association, business is stagnating for around half of all companies, with a quarter even expecting a slight decline. This is not due to the poor order situation. The biggest obstacle to future growth is […]

In Germany, the statutory minimum wage is the absolute lower limit for the payment of labour. In many sectors, trade unions and employers have agreed on minimum wages that are higher than the statutory minimum wage, in some cases very significantly. We show you the industry minimum wages for some sectors and explain in advance […]

In Germany, the number of trainees in the nursing professions has increased. As the central Federal Statistical Office announced today in Wiesbaden on July 26, around 56,300 people in Germany decided to train as nursing specialists last year. This is five percent more than in the previous year. In total, around 102,00 people were in […]

In future, nursing professionals will be given more competences in the care of patients. What is already part of everyday life in other countries is now also becoming more common in Germany. In future, qualified nurses will be able to care for people more independently and on their own responsibility if they have diabetes or […]

Good news: the German parliament, known as the Bundestag, passed a law on May 19 to pay a bonus for nursing staff in hospitals and care facilities. It is about 500 million euros each, which will be made available for hospitals as well as care facilities. These will then be paid to the nursing staff. […]

As of 1 April, the minimum nursing wages have risen slightly. Unskilled nursing assistants now receive a minimum wage of 12.55 euros instead of 12.00 euros per hour. Qualified assistants are now paid a minimum wage of 13.20 euros (previously 12.50 euros). Skilled nursing staff now receive a minimum of 15.40 euros instead of 15.00 […]

The Federal Cabinet approved the draft of the Nursing Competence Act yesterday, Wednesday. The aim of the act is to involve specialist nursing staff more closely in patient care and to make better use of their skills. This would enhance the status of their work and motivate them. In addition, doctors would be relieved of […]

In many sectors in Germany, there is a lack of qualified personnel. The Centre of Competence for Securing Skilled Workers (KOFA) of the employer-related German Economic Institute (IW) has published a new study on this topic. According to the calculations, the sector most affected is healthcare. According to the study, the greatest bottlenecks in this […]

The number of people in need of care in Germany has risen much more sharply in recent years than the number of people employed in the care sector. It is also taking longer and longer for vacancies in hospitals and nursing homes to be filled, while at the same time unemployment among nurses and care […]

The renowned Bertelsmann Foundation has published a new study according to which Germany needs hundreds of thousands of immigrants per year to meet its labour needs in the coming decades. Around 280,000 international workers would have to start each year until 2040 in order to prevent the potential of the labour force from collapsing. The […]

The shortage of skilled labour in Germany is an issue in many sectors. In the transport sector the lack has recently grown the most in relative terms. According to a study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour (Kofa) of the Institute of German Business (IW), which is closely linked to employers, the demand […]

The government of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg has agreed to set up a state agency for the immigration of skilled workers (LZF), which will also take on coordination and counselling tasks. As part of this reform, there will also be a central immigration authority for foreign skilled workers, replacing the 137 local immigration authorities […]

Since 1 March, the new Immigration Act for Germany has made it possible for future skilled workers to obtain a visa without a notice of deficiency. We explain exactly how this works here. Since the beginning of this month, applications for a work visa can also be submitted without a decision on deficits. Even with […]

The energy transition, i.e. the switch in energy generation from fossil fuels (e.g. coal) to sustainable energy sources (solar panels, wind turbines) and electric cars, is increasing the demand for well-trained skilled workers in the industry. In addition, an above-average number of people in Germany will be retiring in the coming years. There are currently […]