Germany to hire 500 Pinoy nurses, medical workers

MANILA, Philippines - Germany will hire at least 500 nurses and health care workers this year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Philippine government and German government signed yesterday a new agreement for the deployment of Filipino medical workers to various German hospitals.

“For the first year, Germany will hire about 500 nurses and other medical workers then the program will be reassessed. After the reassessment, we hope more Filipino healthcare workers would be hired there,” Baldoz said in an interview.

Successful applicants, Baldoz said, will receive about P100,000 monthly salary and will enjoy conditions similar to the those accorded to their German counterparts.

“They will also have compulsory insurance in the German social security system, such as health and long-term care insurance, pension, accident, and unemployment insurance. German employers must also provide them adequate accommodation,” Baldoz added.

Prior to hiring, qualified applicants will have to undergo six-month language training in the Philippines.

“But if the health care worker already possess language skills or familiar to the language that would enable him or her to work, (he or she does not) need to complete the six-month training. The German government wants them to be deployed at the soonest possible time,” Baldoz noted.

The DOLE chief said the German government also expressed willingness to negotiate a mutual recognition agreement that would enable Filipino nurses to work in Germany without the need to take the licensure examination there.

The bilateral labor agreement provides for a government-to-government placement system of Filipino health workers for temporary employment in Germany. It opens the German health care sector to Filipino medical professionals who had been barred from employment in accordance with German laws. It is expected to address the acute shortage of health care workers in Germany.

The agreement, Baldoz said, covers regulation on the deployment of Filipino health care professionals as well as preservation, promotion, and development of Filipino workers’ welfare.                

Under the agreement, each party undertakes to ensure that the recruitment and deployment of Filipino health care professionals are in accordance with existing laws of each country. It also provides that Filipino health care professionals to be deployed have appropriate employment contracts and are given proper briefing before departure.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the German Federal Employment Agency, through its International Placement Services, will administer the hiring.

The agreement was signed by POEA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac and Monika Varnhagen of the German Federal Employment Agency.

The signing ceremony, held at the DOLE, was witnessed by Baldoz, German Minister of Labor and Social Affaires Ursula von der Leyen, and officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, DOLE and Professional Regulation Commission.