The placement figures for foreign nursing staff continued to rise almost monthly until the beginning of the Corona crisis. Demand has stagnated since then. However, Thomas Stenger, an expert for the foreign recruitment of nursing specialists, is not aware of a trend reversal: „The demand for well-trained specialists from abroad will increase again in consequence of the relaxation of the corona-related restrictions in the hospital sector.„ German hospital directors state: About one fifth of German hospitals plan to establish foreign recruiting continuously.
Frankfurt a. M., June 4, 2020 | It may sound paradoxical: In times of corona, which subjects healthcare systems around the world to a massive stress test, the situation on the job market for nursing staff in Germany is easing. Overtime hours and temporary work have been reduced and new recruitment has been postponed.
Thomas Stenger, managing director of pflegerecruiter, a Germany based recruiting company for foreign nurses and subsidiary of apm medical GmbH, is certain that the trend will not be reversed. „Since the beginning of the corona crisis, we have been in contact with representatives of more than 1,000 hospitals in Germany. The majority of those hospitals has reduced or shut down their recruiting activities in March and April completely. However, the officials also know that this is a temporary, corona-related phenomenon“.
Covid-19 disappears, the shortage of skilled workers remains – foreign recruiting is gaining importance
„Neither the shortage of skilled workers will be suddenly history, nor the years of development will be reversed after the end of the Corona crisis. I expect that the improved human and financial resources for nursing, as planned by the Ministry of Health, will lead to an additional demand for well qualified nursing staff. In many places, even before Corona, this demand could not longer be met exclusively with local applicants“, explains Stenger, whose company primarily places specialists from Asia and Eastern Europe to German hospitals.
Round about a fifth of the hospitals plan to establish stable infrastructure for international recruiting in medium and long term
Approximately 20 percent of clinics in Germany plan to pursue long term foreign recruiting concepts. This assessment coincides with the experience of the foreign recruiting specialist: „Together with our clients, we develop applicable recruiting concepts based on the individual requirements of our clinic partners and on our placement experience within the last years. This enables us to ensure a continuous supply of well-trained nursing staff. In doing so, we focus on on-site training. Also establishing and maintaining contact between candidates and clinic representatives at an early stage is important to us. Furthermore, teaching the foreign nursing staff the technical German vocabulary is a key value of our company,“ explains Stenger.
According to Stenger, placement hotspots for pflegerecruiter are Eastern Europe and Asia, especially the Philippines. „We are on site with our own employees and also travel with our customers to our partner nursing schools and recruitment centers, for example in Manila,“ says Stenger. Although the corona lockdown is present there, too, Stenger and his clients are confident that the current 170 nurses from the Philippines will start their hospital service in Germany by summer 2021.
About apm medical services GmbH
As the subsidiary brand pflegerecruiter, the Frankfurt-based apm medical services GmbH has specialised in the international recruiting of nursing staff for the German health care system. In addition to coaching and placing experienced nursing staff, the company has numerous cooperations with nursing schools and universities in Europe and Asia. Further information can be found at www.pflegerecruiter.de and the international candidate platform www.working-in.de.
contact person
pflegerecruiter
apm medical services GmbH
Thomas Stenger
Geschäftsführer
Tel.: +49 (69) 8570090
Mail: [email protected]
Web: www.pflegerecruiter.de
press contact
rheinland relations GmbH
Kathrin Koeker
Kommunikationsberaterin
Tel.: (0228) 299 753-17
Mail: [email protected]
