Immigration in Academic STEM Professions - Increasing Importance and First Successes

More STEM graduates are needed to meet the challenges of demography, decarbonisation, digitalisation and deglobalisation. However, the domestic supply threatens to decline, making immigration even more important. Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of foreign workers in academic STEM professions, particularly individuals from third countries like India. Particularly in southern Germany, the share of foreigners in engineering employment has risen; less so in eastern Germany. However, there are also initial successes in the east, for example in the Ilm district, the proportion of foreigners rose sharply due to international companies and the Technical University. To attract more immigrants in STEM, the immigration process should be accelerated and international students at universities should be supported and encouraged to stay in Germany.