With 70% of Farm Workers Headed for Retirement, Germany Pins Hopes on Foreign Trainees
Published on 06/19/2026 at 11:35 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
North Rhine-Westphalia's apprenticeship numbers tell a stark story: while the number of German trainees has collapsed over the past decade, foreign-born newcomers are stepping in at record pace. In 2025, 16,164 international apprentices signed contracts in the state—up 19 percent from the previous year and nearly double the figure from 2015. Most came from Ukraine and Syria, according to data from regional statistical offices.
German trainees, by contrast, numbered just 83,424 new contracts in the same period, a 22.6 percent slide over ten years. For the first time, the total dropped below 100,000.
The demographic squeeze hitting agriculture is most visible in Brandenburg, where roughly 70 percent of current workers will retire by 2030. Livestock farming, direct marketing, and specialty crops face the heaviest losses. Many farm operators now view refugees not as a charitable option but as the only realistic answer to their staffing needs.
But hiring remains cumbersome. Employers must verify a secure residency status with a work permit. While mini-jobs, short-term positions, and internships are possible, the administrative burden is heavy. "Motivation is there, but communication barriers and temporary residence permits make everything harder," said Alice Arp of the Schleswig-Holstein Land and Forestry Employers' Association. Ukrainians already benefit from streamlined bureaucracy.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt wants to cut the waiting period for asylum seekers to enter the labor market from six months to three. The refugee advocacy group Pro Asyl backs the plan, but legal scholars and unions warn it could complicate deportations and create pull factors. Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Daniela Behrens, meanwhile, is pushing for a reliable right to stay for well-integrated Syrian refugees, noting that nearly half already work in systemically important jobs.
To help bridge the skills gap, specialized online language courses now target green professions. They prepare trainees with migration backgrounds for the technical vocabulary used in occupations such as farmer, livestock manager, or housekeeper—aiming to boost pass rates in the exams run by regional chambers of agriculture.
Despite the push for integration, Germany's overall refugee population fell 4.7 percent in 2025 to about 2.95 million, according to the Rockwool Foundation. "Germany depends on active immigration," said Professor Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln of the Berlin Social Science Center. "The number of people of working age will drop by 10 percent in ten years. Without a genuine welcoming culture, the labor shortage will not be solved."
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