According to a study, tens of thousands of vacancies in daycare centers and nursing homes have not yet been filled – there is a particular shortage of educators. The situation could get even worse.
There is a shortage of nurses, educators and social workers in Germany. Around 133,000 vacancies on average in 2023 in health and social professions cannot be filled with suitably qualified unemployed people, according to a study by the Competence Center for Skilled Labor Security (Kofa) of the employer-friendly German Economic Institute (IW).
Almost a quarter of the overall skills gap is attributable to these areas. According to study author and expert Jurek Tiedemann, the shortage has recently eased slightly, but the situation is still “very tense” and could even worsen considerably in the coming years.
300,000 Childcare places miss
According to the study, the greatest shortage is among educators. This has consequences: because there was an average shortage of almost 21,000 skilled workers last year, there is a shortage of around 300,000 childcare places nationwide. A structural problem in health and social professions is making this even more difficult: more than 80 percent of employees are female, and more than half work part-time – partly because the skills gap indirectly forces them to do so.
“Working mothers often reduce their working hours to compensate for gaps in childcare,” says Tiedemann. Providing childcare places is the key factor in increasing the working hours of mothers and fathers.
Increased demand due to ageing population
The situation is similarly difficult in social work and education, in health, nursing and elderly care, it continues. People whose relatives cannot be cared for due to a lack of skilled workers are only available to a limited extent on the job market, says Tiedemann. Due to the ageing of the population, increasing demand is also to be expected here. The Federal Statistical Office assumes that at least 280,000 additional nursing staff will be needed by 2049.
However, the experts also see positive developments. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Training, training courses for nursing and childcare workers have the largest number of newly concluded training contracts. However, according to the study, the need for qualified staff is increasing faster than the supply of new skilled workers.
In order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers, it is recommended that incentives for training in health and social professions be further increased. Directly addressing male employees could also help to overcome gender stereotypes and inspire more men to work in a health or social profession, says Tiedemann.