Workforce migration has more than doubled since 2020: As of June 2025, 420,000 employees subject to social insurance contributions have been issued with residence or settlement permits due to being gainfully employed in Germany. In 2020, their number was just over 200,000. A good half of them came to Germany as holders of the EU Blue Card.
The Skilled Immigration Act entered into force on 1 March 2020. Since then, further forms of relief for international labour have been introduced, such as by lifting the minimum income requirements for holders of the card in 2023. In the meantime, the number of labour force participants subject to social insurance contributions coming from non-EU countries and being holders of a Blue Card has risen to as much as 164,000. This means their number has risen by 114 per cent as compared with the year 2020.
Increase of job guidance counselling requirements among international workers
The fact that an increasing number of international labour are interested in working in Germany also becomes reflected in the growth of information requirements among that group. The number of digital job guidance sessions conducted by the Federal Employment Agency (BA) with interested international workers had risen to a total of 360,000 by the end of 2025. In addition to answers to general questions, the Federal Employment Agency also provides advice on issues relating to the recognition of qualifications prior to entry. In 2025, the Federal Employment Agency conducted 23,600 job guidance sessions solely for the purpose of providing guidance on the recognition of vocational qualifications.
A sharp rise in demand for guidance related to the “Western Balkans Rule”
As good as a quarter of the labour force subject to social insurance contributions who are holders of a residence or settlement permit on the basis of gainful employment come from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Serbia. They fall within the scope of what is known as the “Western Balkans Rule”, which allows skilled workers and labourers from these countries to take up employment in Germany. This rule has been in place since 2016. In mid-2024, the quota for annual labour market admissions was doubled to 50,000. Supply is thus significantly short of demand. The Federal Employment Agency had to reject around 18,000 applications in December 2025 because the quota had been maxed out.