Potential of German emigrants for the labour market

This chapter examines the potential that German emigrants in OECD countries represent for the labour supply in Germany. It considers the educational composition of the German diaspora, identifies the number of active German emigrants across destination countries, specifies their occupations with a focus on certain shortage occupations, and draws on a variety of indicators to characterise their career prospects. It emerges that German emigrants offer a large skill pool at both the high- and the mediumskill level, and indeed are more likely than their counterparts in Germany to work in high-skill occupations. Substantial numbers of German-born health professionals, engineers and technicians are present in some OECD countries.