Germany, with an ageing population that is highly advanced in state-of-the-art technologies, has knocked on Turkey's door for qualified intermediary staff after the labor migration that started in 1961. The Federal German Employment Agency has applied to the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) for Turkish employees, including plumbers, electricians, nurses, medical secretaries and technicians. The unemployed registered at İŞKUR did not find the offer to their satisfaction as the working conditions in Turkey are better than in Germany. According to research by the Federal German Employment Agency, job vacancies in electronics, metal, machinery, automotive, logistics and health sectors are quickly increasing and there are 400,000 job opportunities for which no suitable employees are available in technical business branches, the private sector and the service sector.
German experts had four consecutive meetings with İŞKUR and discussed the number and qualifications of intermediary staff. While an intermediate level of German is required, the wages will range according to the positions. Since the minimum wage is 473 euros in Germany, with today's exchange rate, employees will be earning a minimum of TL 4,400 per month. Authorities at İŞKUR said that Germany has not limited the number and they prefer graduates from vocational high schools. The younger generations in Germany do not qualify for the related jobs and Germany is facing problems due to a lack qualified employees in many areas, including communications and information technologies. Noting that it is not too late to find jobs with a minimum wage of 1,400 euros, German authorities announced that anyone interested can apply to İŞKUR. They further said unqualified workers will also be employed to work in factories. However, the authorities at İŞKUR said Germany had also applied to Vietnam for workers in order to revive the employment sector with many Turkish employees not willing to migrate to Germany either due to Germany's working conditions being worse than Turkey's or they are doubtful that they can learn German.
The first labor agreement between Germany and Turkey was signed on Oct. 31, 1961. The first group of Turkish workers bade farewell at Istanbul Sirkeci Train Station. After a 50-hour train ride, they arrived in Cologne. As part of the agreement, 500,000 Turkish workers migrated to Germany within the first year and the number of Turkish workers reached 650,000 by 1973. Now, the Turkish population in Germany has reached around 4 million.
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