Two million jobs in Germany remain vacant

Berlin The fact that the Paracelsus Clinic in Bad Ems wants to stop operations also has to do with a lack of staff. “Since the Bad Ems location has been suffering from a blatant shortage of skilled workers for a long time, we have repeatedly been forced to limit individual service areas,” said managing director Tomislav Gmajnic this week, explaining the planned closure, which also has to do with the economic consequences of the corona pandemic. Proper operation of the clinic can no longer be guaranteed.

Health care, with its glaring understaffing, is just the tip of the iceberg. More than every second company in Germany can no longer fill all vacancies, according to the most recent report by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). And that despite a tense economic situation.

“We assume that around two million jobs will remain vacant in Germany,” said the deputy general manager of the DIHK, Achim Dercks, at the presentation of the survey, in which almost 22,000 companies took part. This corresponds to a lost value creation potential of almost 100 billion euros.

Skills shortage also in industry and construction

At 58 percent each, more companies are affected by staff shortages in industry and construction than in the economy as a whole (53 percent). Larger companies suffer more than smaller ones. In three out of four companies with at least 200 employees, positions remain vacant because no suitable applicants can be found.

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However, it should be borne in mind that larger companies are generally looking for more new employees. Around half of the small businesses with fewer than 20 employees currently report no need for staff. In small businesses that want to hire employees, however, recruitment is often particularly problematic.

Read more about labor and skilled labor shortages

The shortage of staff is particularly great, as the example of the Paracelsus Clinic shows, in the health and social service providers, of which 71 percent suffer from bottlenecks – four percentage points more than a year earlier. In addition to the aging of society, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that many employees left the industry during the corona pandemic.

For upcoming future tasks such as the energy transition, digitization or the expansion of the infrastructure, the staff is just as scarce as in sectors that are central to Germany’s international competitiveness. 65 percent or more of capital goods producers, manufacturers of electrical equipment, vehicle and mechanical engineering companies complain about problems in filling vacancies. Truck drivers are also in short supply, which endangers the punctual delivery of end products to retailers and raw materials and intermediate goods to industry,” said Dercks.

Unfilled training positions and general staff shortages

Looking at the desired qualifications, there is a particular shortage of skilled workers with dual vocational training. Of the companies that suffer from staff shortages, around half report problems in filling vacancies in this area. Almost four out of ten of the affected companies fail to fill their training positions. Every third company with staff shortages cannot fill vacancies for academics.

However, the DIHK survey also shows that the shortage of skilled workers has long since turned into a general shortage of workers. 31 of the companies that have problems filling vacancies do not find any employees themselves for unskilled work that does not require a professional qualification.

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Despite the many vacancies and the stable labor market situation, Germany should not feel safe, Dercks warned. Because the shortage of skilled workers costs added value and increases, for example, the challenges of financing public budgets. In combination with the high energy prices and additional burdens on the way to climate neutrality, the staff shortages could definitely lead to production being relocated abroad.

Shortage of skilled workers: possible personnel at home and abroad

The companies surveyed by the DIHK have their own ideas about how to get out of the shortage of skilled workers. At the top of the list for them is reducing bureaucracy. It would help to ensure that the scarce specialist staff can take care of their actual tasks again. 46 percent of companies would like to see vocational training strengthened.

A good one in three companies hopes to find it easier to hire foreign skilled workers, as the federal government now wants to do with the immigration reform. In Germany, too, companies still see dormant specialist and labor potential. Almost a third would like to see more training and placement for the unemployed. Here, too, there should be gradual improvements with the new citizens’ income.

22 percent of the companies each see an expansion of childcare, the digital infrastructure or the options for flexible retirement as a possible way out of the staff shortage. Last but not least, a region must also offer quality of life if skilled workers are to settle there. However, how often the bus runs in the country or whether there is still a shop in town – the companies do not have that in their own hands.

More: IT specialists are particularly in demand in these regions of Germany

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