DOLE: Germany needs 200,000 nurses till 2020

Fresh from her meeting with Philippine Embassy officials and officials of the government of Germany, specifically German Parliamentary State Secretary Thorben Albrect, Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said yesterday that Germany, the leading economy in the European Union, would need at least 200,000 nurses until 2020.



Baldoz, who went to an official trip to Europe last week, said her meeting with German officials was to discuss the status and way forward of the Triple Win Project under the Philippines-Germany government-to-government hiring agreement as well as the decision of the POEA Governing Board to expand the Triple Win Project to include the participation of private recruitment agencies. She also attended the first meeting of the UN High Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth where she is one of the 25 commissioners appointed by the UN Secretary General.

“I have met with the officials of the BA/ZAV, the German Federal Employment Agency/International Placement Services; German International Cooperation Agency, or GIZ; and German Trade Union, Verdi, concerning an important aspect of the agreement, which was the possible technical cooperation on specialized training for nurses, such as in geriatric care, under the human resource development provision of the agreement,” said Baldoz.

“I have been informed by Ms. Kea Eilers of the BA/ZAV about the World Health Organization’s and International Labor Organization’s joint Human Resource Development Technical Cooperation Program which the Philippines could tap for possible specialized training on geriatric care because we don’t have this in the Philippines due to the absence of nursing homes,” she added.

Baldoz said she had the impression from these meetings that Germany is really in short supply of nurses and that it would at least need 200,000 nurses by 2020. “The officials have expressed preference to hire Filipino nurses,” she said during the DOLE’s first quarter 2016 Kapihan at Balitaan at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

Baldoz’s official visit coincided with the 3rd Anniversary of the Triple Win Agreement which was signed on 19 March 2013.

Since the signing of the agreement, Germany has accepted 222 Filipino nurses, 128 of whom had been deployed to 14 employers in Germany while the rest are still completing their preparatory German language training in the Philippines.

While in Germany, Baldoz also met with Philippine Embassy officials headed by Ambassador Melita Sta. Maria Thomeczek and Honorary Consul General Dr. Reinhard Zeidler. She was accompanied by POEA Deputy Administrator Liberty T. Casco and POEA-WEO Director Nimfa D. De Guzman.

Baldoz said her team and she visited the University Hospital in Tubingen to look into the employment situation of Filipino nurses from different parts of Germany, namely, Berlin, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen, who were deployed under the Triple Win project. She also awarded Certificates of Achievement to 49 TWP Filipino Nurses who had already been issued the recognition of qualifications as registered nurses by the German government.




“The Filipino who I met during this important visit shared their experiences in integrating themselves into their work and Germany society in General. They were thankful to the Philippine government for giving them the opportunity to work in the German health sector,” Baldoz explained.

In her meeting with representatives of the German private sector, Baldoz and her team updated them on the recent policies of the POEA Governing Board, particularly Resolution No. 4, Series of 2016 on the hiring of Filipino nurses through the private recruitment sector.

She emphasized that the Philippine Government will continue to uphold the ethical recruitment and employment standards set forth by the successful Triple Win Project.

“These benchmarks, including the no placement fee policy, will be applied to the hiring of nurses by the German private sector as provided for under GB Resolution No. 4,” she said.

She also met with a representative from Minor, a research company, on the latter’s DINTA research project which seeks to explore the use of digital technologies to assist in the integration of Filipino nurses and Spanish care workers in Germany.

“Funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research, the research will be very helpful in providing prospective Filipino nurses and careworkers online information about living and working in Germany,” she elaborated.

Baldoz said she will soon meet with officials of relevant government agencies, such as the Department of Health, Professional Regulation Commission and its Board of Nursing, Commission on Higher Education, and the 15-member agency Philippine Human Resource for Health Network to discuss her meeting with German officials and to explore ways on how the Philippines can avail of the opportunities presented by Germany’s health care sector. [via DOLE]