Skilled workers living abroad would like more support when looking for a job in Germany.

A lack of a job offer is the biggest hurdle for foreigners interested in Germany to move, according to an OECD survey published on Friday.

Almost half of them do not know where to look for suitable job postings.

For the study, the industrialized nations organization, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labor, surveyed almost 29,000 foreign skilled workers who had shown interest in a job in Germany, among other things via the “Make it in Germany” website.

This is an Internet portal of the federal government for skilled workers.

Large pool of highly motivated specialists

"Germany has a large pool of highly motivated specialists at its disposal," says the study.

“More than half of those surveyed have firm intentions of moving to Germany.” Eight out of ten have already taken concrete steps to do so.

But only 8 percent had a job offer.

Almost four out of five respondents saw a need for support here.

Long waiting times for a visa and complicated procedures, which business representatives repeatedly describe as a major hurdle, were also mentioned as problems.

However, they were perceived as less serious than the difficulties in looking for a job from afar.

With a university degree rate of 74 percent, the respondents had an above-average level of education.

Almost half stated that they worked in a shortage occupation.

Almost a quarter work in engineering and 15 percent are IT specialists.

The main country of origin of the respondents was India (19 percent), followed by Colombia (10 percent), Turkey (9 percent) and the Philippines (5 percent).

The federal government wants to attract more foreign skilled workers to Germany.

On Wednesday, she decided on the cornerstones for a reform of the Skilled Immigration Act.

This would open up the labor market more than ever before for workers from countries outside the European Union (EU).

In addition to formal qualifications, professional experience should also entitle people to immigrate to a greater extent than before.

According to estimates by the Nuremberg Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research, Germany needs net immigration of 400,000 skilled workers per year in order to keep the labor force potential in Germany constant.