Germany is continuing to struggle with a shortage of skilled workers, as elderly staff retire, and there are not enough young candidates to fill their roles. To try to alleviate the problem the country is increasingly turning to workers from India.
For Handirk von Ungern-Sternberg, it started with an email that dropped into his inbox in February 2021. It had come from India. The gist of the message was: 'We have lots of young, motivated people looking for vocational training and we're wondering if you're interested.'
Von Ungern-Sternberg was working for the Freiburg Chamber of Skilled Crafts in southwest Germany, a trade body that represents skilled workers, from bricklayers and carpenters, to butchers and bakers, and the companies that employ them. The email arrived at an opportune moment. We had a lot of desperate employers, who couldn't find anyone to work for them, says Von Ungern-Sternberg. So we decided to give it a chance.
His first call was to the head of the local butchers' guild. Butchers all over Germany were having a particularly hard time. It was a sector in marked decline. From 19,000 small, family-run businesses in 2002, there were fewer than 11,000 left by 2021. Employers were finding it almost impossible to recruit young people to take up an apprenticeship.
Back in India, at Magic Billion, the employment agency that had sent that initial email, it managed to recruit 13 young people, who arrived in Germany in the autumn of 2022 to begin their butchery apprenticeships in small towns along the border with Switzerland. They would spend part of their time at college. Among them was 21-year-old Anakha Miriam Shaji. Like many of her cohort, it was the first time she had ever left India. She remembers her excitement.
Three years later a lot has changed. Von Ungern-Sternberg no longer works at the chamber. He has instead set up his own employment agency, India Works, in partnership with Aditi Banerjee, of Magic Billion, to help bring more young Indian workers to Germany. From those original 13 there are now 200 young Indians working in German butchers' shops.
Germany is suffering a crisis of demographics. The economy needs to attract 288,000 foreign workers per year, according to a 2024 study. As the last of the baby boomer generation edge into retirement there are not enough young Germans to replace them, due to a low birth rate. But there are plenty of young people in India.
India Works is preparing to bring 775 young Indians over to Germany this year to begin their apprenticeships across various professions. Official Germany figures show that in 2024 there were 136,670 Indian workers in the country, up from 23,320 back in 2015.
Ajay Kumar Chandapaka, 25, came from Hyderabad to sign on with a haulage company. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. It was very difficult for me to get a job in India, he says. So I thought that Ausbildung would be a better role for me.
Lederer now has seven young Indians working for him. He says that his new recruits have saved his business. I wouldn't be in business today without India, he adds. The mayor of Weil am Rhein, Diana Stöcker, acknowledges the difficulty Germany has finding young talent across the board and advocates looking overseas as a solution.
