Preliminary study on the outflow of foreign skilled workers

Due to the demographic ageing of the German Population and the increasing demand of labor force, foreign skilled labor immigration is an important element in stabilizing the labor market. However, many skilled migrants only stay a very short time in Germany. We will investigate the reasons of migrants for their duration of stay in this study.

The aim of this preliminary study is to gain in-depth knowledge of the return migration phenomenon and initial indications of the reasons for the return migration. To this end, previous findings from the scientific literature will be combined with the results of an own explorative survey. In addition, we will develop two alternative research concepts for the implementation of the upcoming main study, which will include a representative survey for a systematic investigation of the reasons and underlying correlations for the return migration.

The results of the study is to derive courses of action for the operative business of the Agency of Work in the context of recruiting and securing skilled workers worldwide. In addition, results may provide information for other actors, such as employee representatives. The study fills an important gap in the research as an individual data set on return and onward migration from Germany so far is not available.

Final report (in German)