Triple-win migration
Triple-win migration is a concept for sustainable professional mobility for the benefit of everyone involved in the migration process - the migrants, the countries of origin and the countries of destination. It also takes into account the aspects of integration , language training, professional development and bilateral cooperation partnerships for the further development of the economy in the country of origin. The concept is intended to counter the shortage of skilled workers (in the target country) and prevent a brain drain (in the country of origin). The focus of the concept is on the health sector . Triple-win migration can, however, also be transferred to other industries. Initial experience with this concept was gained in the care of the elderly . There is bilateral cooperation between Germany and the partner countries Vietnam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the Philippines.
background
Increasing life expectancy and falling birth rates in Germany result in an increasing aging of the total population. The risk of getting sick or in need of care increases significantly with age. Therefore, a noticeably increasing demand for health and care services can be assumed in the next few years. It is forecast that the number of people in need of care will increase from the current 2.5 million to 3.5 million by 2030. Depending on the calculation basis, the estimates of future nursing staff requirements vary from 152,000 missing employees in nursing professions in 2025 to a gap of 490,000 full-time equivalents in 2030. In Germany, care, support and health services are required that are adapted to the needs of the older population (keyword: Dementia ”or“ multimorbidity ”).
While in Germany, due to the demographic development in a number of economic sectors, an increase in the demand for skilled workers is expected, in contrast, many emerging countries are confronted with strong population growth. On the one hand, most emerging countries have young demographic profiles; on the other hand, life expectancy has risen in many countries over the past few decades and, as a result, there has been a strong increase in older population groups. In addition, numerous emerging countries are experiencing social change. Changing living conditions, new educational and life biographies as well as smaller family structures mean that the family, as the current central authority for caring for and looking after the elderly, is increasingly reluctant. Healthcare workers are also scarce in many emerging countries.
In order to ensure a sufficient supply of skilled and young professionals to provide care services in Germany, different paths can be taken - the recruitment of international skilled workers from third countries is one of them. Such processes for recruiting nurses from abroad must be based on a structured approach in order to be able to make migration sustainable. In addition to securing the demand for skilled workers in this country, this should also take into account the well-being of the migrants and the interests of the countries of origin.
WHO Code for Recruiting International Health Professionals
The health care system is the largest employer in almost all countries. Up to 13 percent of the national workforce in industrialized nations work in the health care sector. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the US are the four largest destination countries for emigrating doctors and nurses. According to estimates by the WHO (World Health Organization), around 27.2 million trained health professionals (including doctors, nurses and midwives) are available to care for the world's population (approx. 6.7 billion people ). It should be noted that it is extremely difficult to determine up-to-date, reliable and internationally comparable data on health workers. The availability of qualified doctors, nurses and midwives in the individual countries varies greatly - in the 186 countries examined, it is in a range of 2.7 to 240 health professionals per 10,000 inhabitants (WHO 2014). In view of these differences in staffing, the question arises as to how many skilled workers are required to ensure health care in a country and which criteria can be used to measure this. In order to be able to make a statement about the staffing levels below which there is a high probability of undersupply, the WHO and the ILO (International Labor Organization) have identified threshold values in the range of 22 to 60 skilled workers per 10,000 inhabitants on the basis of comparative studies. The 2006 WHO World Health Report used the lower threshold as an identifier for countries with a “critical” shortage of skilled workers. Although most OECD countries have high human resources in health care by international standards, the demand for qualified health care professionals will continue to rise over the next few years as a result of demographic developments and medical and technical progress. In order to prevent this trend from having (further) negative consequences for the already underserved developing countries, the 193 member states of the WHO agreed in 2010 on compliance with ethical principles in the international recruitment of health professionals (WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel). The code essentially states that when international health professionals are recruited, the effects on the country of origin must be taken into account and negative effects minimized by means of suitable accompanying development measures.
Triple-win migration concept
Based on the aforementioned aspects, the IEGUS Institute for European Health and Social Economy GmbH has further developed the approach of circular migration to the concept of triple-win migration. Taking into account the interests of both the migrants and the countries of origin in the sense of the WHO Code as well as the destination countries, the triple-win migration is intended to create a "win-win-win" situation for everyone involved in the migration process.
Triple-win migration offers a number of promising perspectives from a development and social policy perspective. Against the background of aging societies, this applies in particular to the care sector, but it can also be transferred to other sectors. The increasing need for skilled workers in professional nursing in Germany can be partially met with the help of skilled workers or trainees from third countries. The countries of origin, on the other hand, benefit primarily from the transfer of know-how . As part of training and development partnerships, opportunities arise for the establishment and further development of professional structures in the health and care sector in the country of origin. In addition, the countries of origin can also benefit economically from migration, as financial return flows increase consumption and investment potential and thus strengthen the local economy. The experience gained so far with the concept shows that bilateral cooperation agreements between industrialized and emerging countries are promising when implementing programs based on triple-win migration. They guarantee compliance with the WHO code and at the same time form a sustainable counterweight against the large number of private agencies and their often dubious brokerage offers. The networks that emerged as part of successful migration projects also form a good basis for independent recruitment efforts by the individual care facilities from now on. For nurses or trainees / schoolchildren from third countries, there are not only higher earning opportunities in Germany, but also the possibility of professional training and specialization is an incentive for (temporary) migration. The experience gained in Germany or abroad can then be used profitably in the country of origin, as there are new career options as a result of development cooperation. The knowledge acquired in Germany about the organization of (elderly) care, the construction of nursing homes or the management and management of facilities can be used in a targeted manner in the further development of medical and nursing care structures in emerging countries . From the point of view of international nurses, the prospect of a position in management positions or in further training in the home country can be an incentive to return to the home country after a few years abroad.
Implementation of the triple-win migration concept
In Germany, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has become increasingly active in the field of sustainable migration of skilled workers, including in the health sector, in recent years. In addition to the establishment of the “Make it in Germany” portal, an intergovernmental agreement between Germany and Vietnam has been in place since 2012 , under which pilot projects are taking place to train young Vietnamese nurses to become geriatric nurses. These projects correspond in the nature of their bilateral exchange, their preparation and their implementation to the basic idea of the triple-win migration concept. The basic idea of triple-win migration was also taken up in the framework of bilateral mediation agreements between the Central Foreign and Specialized Placement (ZAV) of the Federal Employment Agency and the employment agencies in the partner countries Bosnia and Herzegovina , Serbia and the Philippines . In cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), qualified specialists have been placed with German employers on this basis since 2012 under the name “Triple Win Nursing Staff”.
Web links
- Triple Win project , Federal Employment Agency
- Spahn and employment agency are looking for nurses in Mexico , ÄrzteZeitung, September 19, 2019
Individual evidence
- ↑ Afentakis, A. and Maier, T. “Projections of the need and supply of personnel in nursing professions up to 2025”. Economy and Statistics 11/2010. 990-1002. Federal Statistical Office Wiesbaden.
- ↑ Rothgang, H., Müller, R., Mundhenk, R. and Unger, R. BARMER GEK care report 2014. Series of publications on health analysis, volume November 29, 2014.
- ↑ Merda, M., Braeseke, G., Dreher, B. et al. Opportunities for attracting skilled workers in the care industry, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology 2012.
- ↑ Sven Württemberger: Guest column: Emerging countries - the growth engine of the world. In: handelszeitung.ch. May 26, 2016, accessed September 11, 2018 .
- ^ WHO World Health Organization. A universal truth: No health without a workforce. Forum Report. Global Health Workforce Alliance and World Health Organization. Geneva 2014.
- ↑ Anna Lehmann: Whatever makes him happy . In: The daily newspaper: taz . June 27, 2020, ISSN 0931-9085 , p. 20–22 ( taz.de [accessed June 27, 2020]).