What is the Impact of the Skills Shortage
The Shortage of Skilled Labor in Germany is getting worse, as evidenced by current figures from the DIHK. What is this cost and what solutions are envisaged?
The shortage of skilled workers continues to worsen. This is the result of the current specialist report published by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). DIHK Deputy Director General Achim Derks said at the presentation of the report on Thursday in Berlin:
Everyone is already affected.
Achim Dercks, German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK)
More than half of the respondents from nearly 22,000 companies cannot fill all vacancies because they cannot find suitable specialists. A total of 53% cited this as a problem, up from 51% the previous year.
This costs the company a shortage of skilled labor:
The shortage of specialists has been accompanied by a drop in tax revenues and social security. Derks spoke of around 30 billion euros not available for public budgets.
Employment problems had increased again in the previous year, even though companies often anticipated a difficult year economically and had planned their personnel, according to the DIHK. “We assume that around two million jobs will remain vacant in Germany,” Dercks stressed. “This corresponds to a potential loss of added value of around 100 billion euros.”
Which Sectors are Particularly affected by the lack of Personnel:
The labor shortage in the manufacturing industry and the construction industry, which each represent 58% of businesses, is particularly high with problems of employment. For example, producers of machines and systems for the production of other goods as well as manufacturers of increasingly advanced technologies are seriously affected. This affects important projects such as the expansion of hydroelectric capacity or renewable energies.
In the service sector, a total of 52% of companies report problems. According to the DIHK, 71% of health and social service providers report problems with functioning. In traffic and logistics, 65% were unsuccessfully searched for personnel, which DERCKS said made it difficult to transfer trade and industry.
In the hospitality industry, 60% complained of bottlenecks, down from the previous year – according to DIHK, screenings and opening hours have been reduced in many places.
What are the Solution Ideas:
In addition to stronger digitization, bureaucratic requirements can be reduced to facilitate business. In addition, the employment rate of women has increased, but many workers are employed in a timely manner. If all employees worked only two hours a week, this would correspond to 500,000 full-time jobs. However, better childcare offers are needed.
The coverage gap for less than three years remains close to 270,000.
Employment of 60-64 year olds has increased dramatically, but here too there is still room for improvement. More than a third (35%) of the companies questioned hope to obtain a qualification without employment and the intermediation of foreign specialists, a little less (31%).
From the perspective of the DIHK, simple procedures rather than waiting times for two tablets at German foreign representatives on the periphery of the year will be central. If you want to retain foreign staff, the necessary infrastructure such as apartments or schools for children will also be necessary. It also takes more effort to keep foreign students here after school.
