Signite's Magazine

There is a shortage of educators, social workers, nursing staff and salespeople throughout Germany – and skilled workers in other professions are also becoming increasingly scarce. According to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW), this shortage of skilled workers will increase significantly in the coming years. In 2028, an estimated 768,000 jobs will […]

Germany is undergoing major demographic change with increasingly significant implications for the world of work. According to a forecast in the new study ‘Immigration and the Labour Market’ by the Bertelsmann Foundation, without immigration, Germany’s working population would decline by 10 percent by 2040 and by as much as 20 percent by 2060, meaning that […]

Collectively agreed salaries for trainees are rising. Thanks to a 6.4 percent increase in collectively agreed training allowances in the current 2024/25 training year, there are now only a few sectors in which trainees receive less than €1,000 per month in their first year under the collective agreement. According to the results of a recent […]

On 1 July, the national minimum wage for nursing care in Germany will increase. This is the third and final stage of the increase decided by the Nursing Commission at the beginning of last year. Nursing staff will then receive at least €20.50 per hour. According to the federal government, around 1.3 million people work […]

The Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg announced that in June 2023, almost 1.7 million employees subject to social security contributions were working in nursing care. According to the study, the increase in specialist nursing staff is due exclusively to foreign employees working in Germany. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign employees in […]

The industry trade union IG BCE and the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies are warning of impending competitive disadvantages and a weakening of innovative strength. The most important reason for this is the significant shortage of labour. This applies to laboratories as well as to production halls and research departments in the industry. According […]

In a nationwide raid, the customs authorities searched for evidence of social security fraud and illegal employment in the care sector. The action was directed against a complex of companies that provide care staff for 24-hour care in private households, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Dortmund and the main customs office in Münster. […]

The shortage of skilled labour is affecting many sectors in Germany. It has now also reached the traditional branch of mechanical engineering. At the start of the new training year, many apprenticeship places remain unfilled. This is because there is a lack of qualified applicants, according to the industry association VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und […]

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, […]

The German Professional Association for Nursing Professions (DBfK) wants to use the survey “Nursing, how are you?”to determine how the mood among nurses is developing. According to the DBfK, the online survey is aimed at all professional caregivers and will run until 13 April 2025. It asks about satisfaction with the general conditions of the […]

Despite a significant increase in staffing levels in recent years, the shortage of staff continues to be a major problem for many hospitals in Germany. This is shown by the results of the new 2025 Skilled Labour Monitoring report by the German Hospital Federation (DKG), which is based on a survey of 135 hospitals. Between […]

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of new nursing trainees in 2024 increased by nine percent or 5,100 to around 59,500 across Germany compared to the previous year. However, the number of trainees in nursing has not changed across all three current training years: 147,100 people in 2024, and thus around 200 more […]

The German federal state of Saxony and its institutions are increasingly looking for nursing staff and are also turning their attention to other countries. Health Minister Petra Köpping is now pushing for more speed in the recognition of foreign qualifications. The recognition process should be made easier, faster and more effective: this begins with the […]

The Chamber of Nursing of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has collected comprehensive data on the nursing situation. According to this data, several cities in the state will experience a drastic shortage of nursing professionals. According to the chamber, the cities at particular risk are Coesfeld, Höxter, Kleve, Leverkusen, Minden-Lübbecke, Neuss, Soest, Steinfurt, […]

Those working in nursing now earn good money. In February 2022, the nursing commission agreed on a gradual increase in minimum wages in nursing, as well as additional vacation days, and proposed correspondingly gradually increasing hourly wages. The first increase in the minimum wage for nursing staff in Germany took place on 1 September 2022. […]