Germany Wants to Bring 400,000 Skilled Workers From Overseas
2022-01-25
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The COVID-19 pandemic has led to labor shortages and weakened economies around the world.
2Leaders in Germany hope that foreign workers can help the country recover.
3Germany's new coalition government says it wants to bring 400,000 skilled foreign workers to the country each year.
4The government hopes this will help the country deal with its lack of workers as well as an aging workforce.
5Christian Duerr is parliamentary leader of the co-governing Free Democrats.
6He told the business publication WirtschaftsWoche,
7"The shortage of skilled workers has become so serious by now that it is dramatically slowing down our economy."
8He added, "We have to reach the mark of 400,000 skilled workers from abroad as quickly as possible."
9Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, Duerr's FDP and the environmentalist Greens agreed in their deal on measures like a points system for specialists from countries outside the European Union.
10They also agreed to raising the national minimum pay to 12 euros ($13.60) an hour to make working in Germany more appealing.
11The German Economic Institute estimates that the labor force will shrink by more than 300,000 people this year.
12More older workers are retiring than there are younger workers entering the labor market.
13A shrinking labor force could also affect Germany's public pension system.
14Pensions are earnings a person makes after they no longer work.
15Fewer employees will be responsible for financing the pensions of a growing number of retirees who are living longer than ever.
16I'm Ashley Thompson.
1The COVID-19 pandemic has led to labor shortages and weakened economies around the world. Leaders in Germany hope that foreign workers can help the country recover. 2Germany's new coalition government says it wants to bring 400,000 skilled foreign workers to the country each year. The government hopes this will help the country deal with its lack of workers as well as an aging workforce. 3Christian Duerr is parliamentary leader of the co-governing Free Democrats. He told the business publication WirtschaftsWoche, "The shortage of skilled workers has become so serious by now that it is dramatically slowing down our economy." 4He added, "We have to reach the mark of 400,000 skilled workers from abroad as quickly as possible." 5Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, Duerr's FDP and the environmentalist Greens agreed in their deal on measures like a points system for specialists from countries outside the European Union. They also agreed to raising the national minimum pay to 12 euros ($13.60) an hour to make working in Germany more appealing. 6The German Economic Institute estimates that the labor force will shrink by more than 300,000 people this year. More older workers are retiring than there are younger workers entering the labor market. 7A shrinking labor force could also affect Germany's public pension system. Pensions are earnings a person makes after they no longer work. Fewer employees will be responsible for financing the pensions of a growing number of retirees who are living longer than ever. 8I'm Ashley Thompson. 9The Reuters news agency reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. 10____________________________________________________________ 11Words in This Story 12dramatically - adv. very much 13abroad - n. in or to a foreign country