BERLIN, July 7: Germany plans soon to adopt measures aimed at relieving a shortage of qualified workers in certain sectors by attracting foreign candidates, an official spokesman said on Monday.

Although the ministry spokesman did not provide details, the confirmation came after a newspaper said on Saturday that authorities were mulling an “index of worker needs.” The report said officials could poll 7,000 companies each month to determine what kinds of skills were needed in the coming six months and adapt the granting of work vias accordingly.

A spokesman for the Labour Ministry “neither denied, nor confirmed” the report but acknowledged that the search for a “control system to identify needs” was “the reflective framework within which we are proceeding.” Government spokesman Thomas Steg said the subject had been discussed intensively, in particular between the social democrat labour minister and his conservative counterpart at the interior ministry.

A proposition was expected to be presented to the full cabinet on either July 16 or 23, Steg added. Certain sectors of the biggest European economy, notably high-tech firms, are handicapped by a serious shortage of engineers, programmers and qualified technicians.

The national engineering federation said last month that around 100,000 engineering posts were vacant throughout Germany. Measures taken by the government to date have been judged too restrictive by the business sector and have not noticeably improved the situation.—AFP