Published on: January 3, 2025 / Update from: January 3, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Global shortage of skilled workers: skilled workers from abroad? Why the market isn't playing along and the arguments are ethically questionable - Image: Xpert.Digital
🌍📉 Global shortage of skilled workers: A problem for all industrialized nations!
🧠💡 Ethical dilemmas in the shortage of skilled workers: Who pays the price?
The global shortage of skilled workers is no longer a phenomenon that only affects individual countries. In fact, almost all industrialized countries, from Japan to Germany to the USA, face the same challenge: there is a lack of qualified personnel who can meet the diverse requirements of modern economic systems. Many hope to find a quick solution by recruiting skilled workers from abroad. But this strategy quickly reaches its limits. On the one hand, the global competition for highly specialized workers is immense, but on the other hand, qualified workers are often also in demand in their home countries, so that there is no significant surplus of potential applicants abroad. There are also ethical questions, because if highly qualified people are systematically poached from emerging countries, this can significantly affect local economic and social development in these regions.
🛑 Bottleneck in the job market
“The resource simply does not exist to the extent that increasing demand suggests,” say many labor market experts, referring to the attempt to rely on the recruitment of foreign skilled workers. This creates a kind of global bottleneck in which economic nations try to outdo each other. The result is often frustrated expectations in companies, as positions remain unfilled despite increased effort in terms of visa procedures, recognition of qualifications and cultural integration. “This is eyewash and a drop in the ocean,” criticize some market observers when it comes to relying on immigration. This situation clearly shows that alternatives are urgently needed.
🤖 Holistic approach
In order to address the global shortage of skilled workers, a holistic approach is required. Automation through artificial intelligence and robotics plays a central role here. This path not only promises relief for companies that are desperately looking for staff, but also creates opportunities for new job profiles: people who were previously less qualified can grow and specialize in practice through appropriate training and further education. Especially when companies focus on gradually training their workforce in the areas of automation and AI, an ongoing system of practice and theory is created that ensures more stability on the labor market in the long term.
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📚 Knowledge transfer
“What is most important is the knowledge of measures,” emphasize many education experts, “while more in-depth background knowledge is not fully necessary in every context.” This does not mean that one should forego in-depth specialist training. Rather, business-related, application-oriented knowledge transfer can represent a realistic and flexible answer to the shortage of skilled workers. This is where the concept of part-time “learning by doing” comes in, where you learn in direct connection with the workplace and immediately put new knowledge to the test in practice. The length of such programs can be individually adjusted depending on previous knowledge and complexity of the tasks. Anyone who already has certain basics can get into demanding modules more quickly. People with little prior knowledge can learn everything essential in a longer process while working without having to give up their job.
👩🎓 Dual studies as an example
The model of dual study programs can be used as an example of how learning on the job can work: Here, university theory and operational practice are closely linked. Unlike pure full-time courses, you gain professional experience at the same time and can immediately apply what you have learned. A similar principle can be adapted for almost any industry and qualification level as soon as companies and educational institutions cooperate closely. The special thing about part-time learning is that it uses existing capacities in a targeted manner and does not tear people away from their existing living environment. For example, if you have a family or are unable to study full-time for several years for financial reasons, this gives you a realistic perspective for further professional development.
🌱 Opportunities through “Learning by Doing”
“Learning by doing” is much more than just a slogan. It opens up opportunities that can prove essential in times of skilled labor shortages. Companies benefit from the fact that employees can be deployed directly, while they in turn have financial security and do not have to rely exclusively on theoretical course content. Ideally, this model is supported by government funding, for example by financially supporting those who complete this form of further training. One approach could be to link social benefits such as citizen's money, which offers basic security in Germany, with appropriate qualification components. This means: Instead of simply receiving benefits, you could also be in an officially recognized training program that supports training costs and a reasonable standard of living. This could create a sustainable incentive to increase your level of qualification and improve your employability.
🔧 Development of new technologies
This is closely related to the development of new, digital and automated forms of production. Machines and AI systems are taking on increasingly complex tasks, be it in industry, in the service sector or in logistics. This is accompanied by an increasing need for professionals who can implement, maintain and further develop these technologies. Simply recruiting from abroad will hardly meet this need, especially considering that demand is very similar internationally. Japan, a highly developed industrial country, is also desperately looking for AI specialists and robotics engineers. The same applies to the USA, Canada or Australia. Why should a highly qualified person from these countries emigrate to Germany or elsewhere when they are at least as in demand in their home country?
💼 New ways of thinking required
This international competition for minds requires new approaches. Instead of just selective recruitment, countries and companies should invest in their own education and training. It is crucial that this process does not only take place at the universities. Young people should be familiarized with the possibilities of modern technologies in school so that they can later easily enter careers that require automation and AI. Companies could cooperate even more intensively with schools and vocational schools in order to define training paths at an early stage in which practical skills in modern technologies are taught. Career changers could also benefit from a wide range of further training modules that are closely linked to the requirements of the labor market.
🌍 The shortage of skilled workers: challenges and solutions
✨ State actors play a key role by creating and supporting the framework conditions for such training models
“Financial support should not only be given to those who can afford an expensive course of study,” are repeated demands from education and social policy. Rather, there should be programs that ensure one's livelihood during a phase of intensive further training without one slipping into precarious circumstances. Companies, in turn, could benefit if the state promotes their investments in in-service training for employees, for example through tax incentives or subsidies. The idea behind it is clear: If companies cover part of the costs for further training, it is worth it in the long term because they then have qualified employees who cover exactly the needs that exist in the company. The skilled workers, in turn, gain the prospect of establishing themselves in a future-proof professional field without having to move abroad or go into an industry that does not correspond to their area of interest.
🚀 The roots of the shortage of skilled workers
The global shortage of skilled workers cannot be solved with just one measure. It is the result of several factors: demographic change, rapid technological advances, inadequate educational concepts and global competition for the brightest minds. Linking all these aspects together and finding solutions that have a lasting effect is the real challenge. “We need a paradigm shift,” some market researchers demand, “away from the illusion that there are unlimited skilled workers abroad and towards systematic qualification in our own country.”
💡 The importance of lifelong learning
In a world where automation and digitalization are becoming more important every day, enabling people to learn for life could actually be the best investment. It is not enough to simply modernize the existing school system. Further training, retraining and part-time studies must also be designed to be flexible and attractive. “Learning by Doing” provides a useful methodological framework for this, as it integrates the practical experience of new technologies directly into everyday work. So instead of hoping for a big hit from abroad, local measures, government funding and a social consensus could be used to set the course so that there are enough qualified personnel for all sectors in the long term.
⚖️ Ethics and responsibility in the shortage of skilled workers
Especially with regard to ethics, it is important not to increase brain drain effects. If workers are urgently needed in their home countries because the economic structures there are still being developed or already have to meet high standards, it would be morally problematic to lure them abroad with promises. This can lead to worsening social inequalities and entrench global imbalances. A fair exchange of specialist knowledge and personnel should always take place on an equal footing. In some cases, it is advantageous for both sides if a specialist goes abroad for a few years, gains experience and then returns later to use the acquired know-how in his home country. But if the purpose is to permanently poach experts, this can help in the target country, while it leads to serious gaps in the country of origin.
🔧 Technology and future requirements
All of these considerations illustrate why a strong focus should be placed on automation, AI and on-site training. Technology is developing rapidly and can replace repetitive and dangerous tasks. This gives skilled workers the freedom to devote themselves to more creative and complex tasks. However, in order to be able to use this added value, employees are needed who are familiar with working with machines, software and algorithms. This need will not decrease in the medium term. On the contrary: the more companies automate, the greater the need for skilled personnel to plan, implement and monitor automation solutions. An offensive in terms of further training and qualifications is therefore inevitable if you seriously want to defuse the shortage of skilled workers.
📈 Long-term prospects for human capital
🏆 In the long term, countries that invest in the continuous development of their human capital today will have a strategic competitive advantage. “Part-time learning by doing” can help employees acquire new skills at any time without having to forego their income entirely. In order for this to be successful, appropriate financing and support models are necessary, which should not be borne by companies alone. State authorities, social security systems and possibly also education funds could take joint responsibility here in order to secure a broad base of qualified workers. This creates a win-win situation in which both the company and employees benefit in the long term. At the same time, you avoid the dilemma of poaching qualified people on a large scale from other countries that urgently need them.
📝 Strategic thinking is required
🌟 The global shortage of skilled workers cannot be solved by simple solutions such as a one-sided focus on recruiting foreign skilled workers. Instead, it requires a strategic package of measures that includes technological innovations, AI and robotics, as well as a well-thought-out system of in-work training and further education at all skill levels. “If you act too late, you will be left behind,” it is often said. This is precisely why it is essential to implement future-oriented concepts now that enable people to actively shape technological change instead of passively reacting to it. Companies and politicians have a responsibility to promote these approaches and thus alleviate the shortage of skilled workers in the long term. This is the only way to ensure that the business location remains internationally competitive while at the same time maintaining social justice and ethical principles in a global context.
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