Immigration Supports the Labor Market

Demographic change is underway, and immigration is already helping to mitigate its effects.

This is the finding of a new Focus Paper by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, which compiles current data from nearly 90 sources on the labor market integration of immigrants in Germany. The key figures: 17%—or 5.9 million—of the workforce in Germany are foreign nationals, a figure that has risen by 194,000 people compared to the previous year. At the same time, the number of German workers decreased by 269,000 to 28.9 million.

As a result, immigrants are already significantly mitigating the consequences of demographic change. This trend will remain central to the German labor market in the future as well, since approximately one in four German workers will retire over the next 10 years. Already today, in sectors such as cleaning, food production, tourism, and hospitality, an average of 42.5% of workers are foreign nationals.

To maintain a stable labor force in the coming years, the Focus Paper focuses primarily on the untapped potential within the immigrant population. This is because only just under 59% of men and 45% of women in this group are employed in jobs subject to social security contributions. The potential is even more evident among refugee women, only 31% of whom are employed. Language skills and the recognition of professional qualifications remain the key factors for successful integration.

We were also interested in these topics:

• Black-Red Reforms: As part of the major reform package, stricter rules regarding sick leave are also in the spotlight. The Tagesschau has summarized what specifically is set to change regarding the requirement for a doctor’s note and why stricter laws are being proposed.

• Layoff Atlas: Business Insider highlights which employee groups are particularly frequently affected by layoffs. Married men make up the largest single group, with an average age of 41.4 years, and layoffs most often occur after two to five years of employment.

• Startup Boom: By the end of June, more startups had already been founded in Germany than in all of 2024, as heise reports. Since the beginning of the year, 3,053 new companies have been launched. The hotspots: Bavaria with 626 new startups, North Rhine-Westphalia with 539, and Berlin with 429. According to the Startup Association, a key driver is the targeted use of AI.

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