Following massive layoffs at American tech firms, German tech firms are seizing the opportunity to strengthen their own workforce with these laid-off employees.
“I would like to cordially invite you to move to Bavaria,” wrote Judith Gerlach, digitalisation minister in Germany’s wealthiest region on LinkedIn in a post addressed to the recently laid off.
Faced with a tight labor market and a scarcity of workers with critical software engineering skills, some German firms see thousands of layoffs in Silicon Valley as an opportunity to recruit top talent.
One of such is Cariad, the software subsidiary of automaker Volkswagen whose Chief People Officer, Rainer Zugehoer said while America is firing, it’ll be hiring. “We have several hundred open positions in the U.S., in Europe and in China,” he added.
To make things easier, the German government is revamping immigration rules and swinging the prospect of easy citizenship to entice skilled would-be immigrants, and regional governments are pushing ahead.
One reason for this hiring spree is that Germany has one of the world’s oldest populations. As a result, it has massive labor shortages. Furthermore, 137,000 IT jobs are unfilled, according to IT industry group Bitkom.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.