Green card solution fails to attract IT professionals to Germany

By K. T. Jagannathan

HAMBURG, MARCH 25. Has the green card solution helped to mitigate the shortage of software professionals that Germany is currently facing? The answer is to a distinct `No4 if one were to go by the interactions with officials of various trade bodies and government agencies here.

The green card solution, it is gleaned, has not seen many foreign software professionals eager to come to Germany in reality. Estimatates put that not more than 8000 foreign information technology professionals would have got into Germany since the launch of the green card solution in the middle of last year.

The annual demand-supply gap in information technology professionals is estimated at one lakh. The nascent multi-media industry in Germany itself is facing a shortage of 40,000 IT professionals this year.

According to Dr. Lutz Goertz who is a Referent at the five-year- old Multi-Media Association of Germany is not quite sure that the green card will prove an attractive proposition for many, especially, Indian IT professionals, to make a beeline for Germany. In his reckoning, America is still a desired destination for Indian software profestionls. This point has been endorsed by Mr. Uwe Ram, Director, External Trade Section at Free and Hanseatic Citz of Hamburg, as well by Ms. Monika Stark, PR Manager at the German Asia-Pascific Business Association.

Ms. Stark agrees that the restriction on the number of years a foreign IT professional can be employed in Germany under the green card solution is 'unrealistic'. The scheme also mandates that the applicant should have a job and should be earning a minimum specified salary at the time of applying for a green card. This, agrees Mr. Goertz, has hindered the flow of foreign IT professionals into Germany. Nevertheless, he has a justification for such a measure. In his view, this will ensure that no foreign IT professional undersells himself, much to the chagrin of local Germans. Information here suggests that since the launch of the scheme, a number of Russian and East European professionals have shown interest in coming to Germany. Will the failure of the green card solution hinder Germany's growth in the information technology area? The answer apears to be yes and no. Yes because in the near-term, the shortage of IT professionals will slow down the strides the IT sector has made. No because in the medium-term, the country is hoping that the local educational institutions will churn out more students with IT-related degrees. Efforts have already been put in place to see that IT- related education is imparted to students at different levels and ways. Dr. Goertz is confident that six months down the line Germany will not feel the pinch of an IT professional shortage much when these students arrive on the job market.

Interestingly enough, the worldwide failure of dotcoms appears to have helped to ease the shortage of IT professionals. Dr. Goertz admits that those who are out of dotcom companies are being targeted by IT and multi-media companies.

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