Immigration of nursing staff: Massive subsidies as a key pillar?

The risky game with someone else's cash register

Imagine you run a medium-sized company in mechanical engineering or skilled trades. You urgently need skilled workers , look beyond Europe's borders, and calculate the costs: language courses, visa fees, travel expenses, integration measures, and the lengthy professional recognition process . Every cent you invest has to be earned back. If the skilled worker isn't a good fit or their qualifications aren't sufficient, you bear the full entrepreneurial risk . But while you're scrutinizing every euro, there's an industry in Germany that operates in a completely different economic reality. In the nursing sector, money for recruiting foreign talent seems to flow almost magically from an inexhaustible source . But this abundance isn't a sign of courage or foresight; it's the result of a system that externalizes responsibility.

The illusion of risk-free business

The reason for this discrepancy lies deep within the thicket of regulations in the Nursing Professions Act . Sections 26 et seq. govern a nationwide refinancing system that could almost be described as a "worry-free package." The costs of training and the additional costs of remuneration are simply reimbursed via state-specific training funds. What does this mean in practice? If a nursing care provider When employers recruit skilled workers or trainees abroad, they often don't bear the associated costs themselves . The general public foots the bill through a levy system. For individual employers in the care sector, recruitment is therefore often a virtually risk-free business. When costs are borne by everyone via a levy, the pressure to critically examine the efficiency and, above all, the sustainable quality of training abroad inevitably decreases. It's a basic principle of business administration: when someone else pays, responsible use of funds only occurs when the coffers are empty. And that's precisely where we are now. Numerous state and semi-state projects with questionable effectiveness confirm this finding.

Business management instead of state-run comprehensive insurance

In stark contrast is the rest of the German economy. From the IT sector to the construction industry, employers must very carefully calculate the benefits of recruiting from abroad. There are no training funds to step in if a skilled worker recruitment project fails. This has nothing to do with a lack of courage, but is simply business economics. An entrepreneur must ensure that the person they bring to Germany from India , Brazil, or Vietnam actually possesses the professional skills their company requires. While the healthcare sector was able to rest on the laurels of refinancing for a long time, the rest of the economy is forced to make quality the benchmark. This focus on the quality of education in the country of origin is not an obstacle, but a necessary safeguard against poor decisions. It is therefore only logical that policymakers are now also recognizing that sheer quantity is not enough.

The shift towards quality: the example of India

Interestingly, we are currently witnessing a movement that demonstrates the limitations of the "blanket funding" system . Recent bilateral declarations between Germany and India regarding nursing care signal a shift in thinking. The heads of government are now directly focusing on professional recognition and high-quality training abroad. They are recognizing that simply bringing people in is insufficient; the professional foundation must be established in the country of origin according to German standards or at least validly assessed. For us as lawyers and consultants, this is a crucial signal: the era of relying on state-funded systems without monitoring the quality of education abroad is drawing to a close. We must place the quality of education abroad at the forefront for Germany in order to secure the future viability of our businesses.

Why quality of education is the best legal protection

When we talk about skilled worker immigration, we can't just focus on visa processes . We need to talk about the validity of qualifications and actual employability. A company investing in a skilled worker today needs to be certain that the qualification lives up to its promise. The pay-as-you-go healthcare system has fostered a dangerous complacency that the rest of the economy can only dream of – but shouldn't actually aspire to. True economic stability doesn't come from subsidies, but from excellent talent. We need to create systems that begin abroad and ensure that training there reaches a quality that allows for seamless recognition in Germany. This not only reduces legal risks associated with visa issuance, but, more importantly, secures the long-term success of integration within the company.

Conclusion: Responsibility as a competitive advantage

In summary, the successful model of recruiting nursing staff from abroad rests on shaky foundations as long as it relies solely on cost redistribution. The German economy cannot and will not afford this luxury. However, this also presents an opportunity: those forced to bear their own costs pay closer attention to quality. We must move away from a purely quantitative approach and towards a quality-driven immigration policy. Only by taking the quality of education abroad seriously and understanding it as a central component of our skilled worker strategy will we secure Germany's long-term competitiveness. It is time to extend the professionalism of the private sector to all industries and make quality the standard – regardless of who ultimately foots the bill.