I can say from experience that skilled migrants are wanted only in very specific domains like IT, engineering and some areas of medicine, etc. If you’re not active in those domains, you will not get a job according to your qualifications even with good German skills.

I have many acquaintances that work e.g. in IT and while they don’t have problems finding a job, their spouses are facing serious difficulties leading to e.g. changing fields (with the associated loss of experience/earning potential), spending years getting another college diploma or settling for less. And I’m talking mainly about Europeans here, with already recognised diplomas and full rights on the labour market.

With that out of the way, I’m puzzled by the premise of the article. How do countries become unable to satisfy local demand through local supply? Something must be fundamentally wrong with the market. In medical care for example the conditions are bad and the salaries aren’t good.

And while in IT the average salary’s good compared to many other countries, it’s nowhere near what one can get in e.g. Zurich, London or the US. Software developer is just another middle class job. This lack of applicants seems to be at least partly driven by insufficient remuneration. Not surprising that the politicians and companies would rather import labour rather than developing the local market and motivating the locals.