Is Germany on the way to the service desert?
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The pandemic is acting as a catalyst in several respects, for example for digitization, the reorganization of supply chains – and also for the labor market. In the USA, Corona has accelerated a trend that existed before the outbreak of the disease: the “Big Quit”.
Workers are quitting their jobs en masse because they are dissatisfied with the working conditions and wages, because there are better prospects elsewhere, or because they simply hope for a more fulfilling job.
Germany has been spared such a “mass flight” on the labor market driven by Corona, at least on a large scale. Because the majority of employees were not forced to reorient themselves during the crisis thanks to the instrument of short-time work.
And yet there are also signs of a “big quit” in this country. They can be found at the entrances to restaurants, where signs indicate reduced opening hours due to staff shortages.
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Or in the thinned out summer flight schedules of Lufthansa, Easyjet and Co., which are canceling connections in rows due to a lack of cabin crew or apron staff. Or in nursing homes that no longer accept new residents because there is no one to take care of them.
The “Big Quit” is evident in simple jobs in the service sector, where moderate pay, unattractive working hours and high physical or mental stress often come together. Since the labor market has been largely emptied, many people who worked in these jobs before Corona used the crisis as an opportunity, reoriented themselves and found something better.
There are no quick ways out of the misery. Unemployment is low, so the reservoir of additional workers is thin. The potential for automation is limited, online check-in when flying is part of everyday life, but service robots in restaurants or nursing homes are not yet. Even skilled immigrants will think twice before accepting a job in the hospitality industry or at the airport as long as there are better alternatives.
So there is no way around upgrading even simpler activities, for example through collective agreements that regulate reasonable working conditions in addition to fair wages. Employer attractiveness will decide whether there will still be enough staff for simple jobs in the future – or whether the “Big Quit” has what it takes to eventually turn Germany into a service desert.
More on this: Interview with BA boss Detlef Scheele: “We have a labor market where employers have to offer attractive working conditions if they want to survive.”