Labour market shortage: Germany to woo Indian students

Germany is trying to lure foreign students from India to its labor market as it struggles with a chronic labor shortage, according to the president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). 

Indian students can potentially help, while also benefiting from training and experience, according to DAAD President Joybrato Mukherjee. According to the DIHK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, half of German enterprises are unable to fill jobs.

In the winter semester of 2022–2023 over 43,000 Indian students attended German institutions, a 100% rise in just four years.

The most recent DAAD conference was centered on bringing together Indian and German stakeholders to advance innovative concepts for scholarly collaboration and strengthen the network of higher education between the two countries. 

The German-Indian Migration and Mobility Agreement, signed in December 2022, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to India in February 2023, during which he emphasized the need for Indian IT workers, have fostered international accords between the two nations. 

After the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, Germany ranked as the fifth most popular location for Indian students in 2022. Because DAAD has been actively working in India since the 1960s, this progress has been made possible. 

Germany has been building its relationship with India over the past sixty years, beginning with the 1974 Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation. There are about 450 university collaboration initiatives between German and Indian institutions, according to the German Rectors Conference.

As of right now, 11 German research and academic institutes are permanently based in India. In 2022, the DAAD will facilitate 79 cooperative projects and assist over 2,300 students and researchers. 

The A New Passage to India initiative from DAAD has also encouraged student partnerships and internships. The German Ministry of Education and Research and the Indian government jointly funded nine projects totaling €3.5 million over the 2019–2024 project term.

Even though Indian students are currently more numerous than Chinese students studying abroad in Germany, the requirement of the Akademische Prüfstelle certificate has proven to be a little obstacle.

Because of the large number of fraudulent student visa applications, it was implemented in October 2022. The German Embassy hired more people in order to handle a backlog that isn’t as bad as it once was in recent months.