“Without immigration, the German economy would not function in many areas”: This is one of the findings of a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation on immigration and the labor market. By 2025, the number of foreign workers had risen by 194,000 to more than 5.9 million. The number of German workers, by contrast, fell to just under 29 million. This resulted in a shortfall of approximately 75,000 workers within a single year.
Immigrants Pay Taxes
The study states: “Better labor market integration of immigrants not only alleviates the shortage of skilled workers but also increases tax revenue and stabilizes the social security system.” Without foreign-born workers in cleaning jobs (45.7 percent), food production (nearly 44 percent), and the hospitality and tourism sectors (36 percent), the situation in these areas would be dire. In the care sector, more than one in five workers comes from abroad, according to the study.
Integration Must Be Improved
This trend is set to intensify in the coming years. More and more German workers are retiring. Foreign workers, on the other hand, are much younger. One conclusion is that anyone who wants to preserve society’s prosperity must improve the integration of immigrants. One aspect of this is formal qualifications. 44 percent of workers from countries of origin of asylum seekers have no vocational qualification. 18 percent have a vocational qualification. 14 percent are college graduates.
Great potential: refugee women
The authors of the study see great untapped potential among women from countries of origin of asylum seekers. Eight years after their arrival, 31 percent of them were employed in jobs subject to social security contributions. Refugee men, on the other hand, were employed at a rate of 73 percent—higher than the national average for men, which stands at 70 percent.
Many work below their qualifications
Just under 45 percent of workers from countries of origin for asylum seekers work as unskilled laborers (compared to 12 percent of German workers). This also applies to 31 percent with a recognized vocational qualification and 19.5 percent with a college degree. One consequence: They have a lower income.
Fewer and Fewer Need Basic Income
The authors also examined the receipt of basic income. Among people from countries of asylum origin, the rate declined from 58.2 to 39.6 percent between 2020 and 2025. Among Ukrainians, it fell from 64 to 52.1 percent since 2023. Some benefit recipients supplement their income with basic income support. That is why the study states: “Efforts should be made more consistently to place people in regular, living-wage jobs.”
There is no single point of contact for all issues
The study identifies key factors for integration into the labor market. Good German language skills, especially among women. “Language support must be reliably funded, integrated with vocational training and child care, and available on a part-time basis,” the authors state. One problem is that immigrants cannot utilize the qualifications they bring with them in Germany. Another obstacle: differing jurisdictions and lengthy procedures for the recognition of qualifications. Therefore, the study calls for: “Upskilling must be faster, available on a part-time basis, and affordable.” Furthermore, missing documents should more frequently be compensated for through qualification analyses and competency assessments. To reduce barriers to entering the labor market, the authors advocate for a single point of contact. “Issues such as language, administrative processes, and child care must function as a seamless integration chain,”
says labor market expert Roman Wink of the Bertelsmann Foundation.
Link to the study:
https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/de/themen/aktuelle-meldungen/2026/zuwanderung-stuetzt-den-deutschen-arbeitsmarkt-doch-die-integration-muss-besser-werden
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