Description
Country
Focus area
This initiative aims to analyse skilled worker shortages in Germany and identifiy bottleneck occupations. Until March 2020, this analysis was the backbone of the regularly updated Positivliste (list of occupations where immigration from non-EU countries is promoted).
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
Service provided by PES.
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
April 2011.
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
No
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Other
The initative is funded by the German PES. No information on the amount of funding is publicly available.
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
Information on which occupational skilled shortages is avaibale so that young graduates can be well prepared for the occupations
Employees in specific occupational specities can reskill to meet the skills required in the vacancies
Adults who are not in employment can upskill to meet the skills required in the occupational specialties to be able to enter the job market
Information on occupational skill shortages is available.
Information is available to the broad public via the internet.
Until March 2020, the list of bottleneck occupations informed policy directly. It can still be used by other parties as the reports are available online.
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
Career management skills
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Other
Registed employed and unemployed from the Federal Employment Agency. The classification as to whether or not an occupation should be considered as a bottleneck occupation is essentially based on how long it takes to fill a vacancy registered at the PES (vacancy time). In addition, further information, such as the number of vacancies or the inflows and outflows from unemployment as well as qualitative occupational information, are included in the assessment.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
With this instrument, LMI was used directly to adress skills skills by promoting immigration into specific bottleneck occupations.
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National PES
Bundesagentur für Arbeit (German PES)/ the Federal Employment Agency (English). This is a service of the German PES for its customers and therefore does not rely strongly on input from external stakeholders.
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
National PES
Quantitative data anlysis performed by PES
Other
The initiative used to be part of the system of steered migration in Germany. Therefore, all stakeholders with a connection to labour migration are affected by the initiative. However, as it is an quantitative instrument of the German PES that runs on data analysis, the influence of other organisations is limited.
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Other
In general, all persons in need of information about the German labour market and training system profit from the initiative. Until March 2020, Immigrants with bottleneck occupations identified in the analysis benefited from lower barriers to immigration. Still the list of bottleneck occupations indicates where immigrants might find employment opportunities.
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
Through the instrument LMI had direct impacts on how immigration promotion is designed in Germany. It is still a valuable source on bottleneck occupations on the German labour market.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
As it is a very quantitative instrument to evaluate skills needs it is not necessarily subject to evaluation, but rather itself an evaluation tool to identify bottleneck occupations.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
Yes
From 2020, the report will be published every year instead of every half year as before
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
It was very effective as the results of the analysis directly and automatically influenced migration regulations.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
The initiative was updated regularly every half year before December 2019. Since 2020, the initiative will continue with one publication every year. With the implementation of the skilled workers immigration law, the importance of the instrument declined substantially. It is nevertheless a good example on how LMI can inform labour market policy directly.
Other instruments in Germany
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