Overview

• Nearly one in four elder care workers in Germany are now foreign nationals, highlighting the sector's reliance on migrant labor.
• Over the past decade, the care workforce has grown by 20% to 1.72 million, with all recent employment growth attributed to foreign hires.
• In 2024, only 3,000 new care workers came from the EEA and Switzerland, while 13,000 were recruited from non-EEA countries under the Skilled Immigration Act.
• Part-time work remains prevalent, with approximately half of care workers employed part-time, significantly higher than the one-third average across other sectors.
• Experts warn of future vacancies as a third of the current workforce is expected to retire within the next 15 years, further straining the sector.