According to a survey by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, every second German company has problems filling vacant positions. Construction and industry are hardest hit – but there are bottlenecks almost everywhere.
According to a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the shortage of skilled workers has affected large parts of the German economy. According to the new skilled workers report presented today, every second company cannot fill at least some of its vacancies.
“The skilled worker situation remains very critical,” said DIHK deputy managing director Achim Dercks. The personnel shortages affect the breadth of the economy and now extend to almost all industries and professions. According to the survey, the construction sector and industry are particularly affected.
“General labor shortage”
“Some industries are not only talking about gaps in skilled workers, but also about a general shortage of workers,” says Dercks. 82 percent of those surveyed expect negative consequences for their company, 40 percent expect a limited supply or lost orders. According to the DIHK, information from more than 22,000 companies was evaluated for the report.
According to the current estimate, 1.8 million positions currently remain unfilled. In mathematical terms, more than 90 billion euros in added value were lost this year, according to the report. That corresponds to more than two percent of German economic output.
A majority of 55 percent of those surveyed can imagine hiring people from third countries – i.e. countries outside the EU. Language courses and simpler procedures are at the top of the wish list. “Months of waiting for a visa appointment, documents getting stuck in the mail, missing contacts at the immigration office, all of this must be a thing of the past,” demanded Dercks.
Difficult ones economic situation
However, the situation has improved somewhat compared to a survey from January. At that time there was still talk of around two million vacant jobs and a lost value creation potential of almost 100 billion euros.
However, the German economy is currently in a more critical situation than it was in January of this year. In the third quarter, the economy contracted by 0.1 percent and industry is continuing to scale back its current production. Experts are now hoping for fresh momentum in 2024.
Added to this is the difficult situation in the construction industry. Sharply increased interest rates, with which the European Central Bank (ECB) wants to combat high inflation, are causing problems for the industry. This makes many projects unprofitable for builders, especially since construction prices have increased significantly.
Anja Dobrodinsky, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, November 29, 2023 4:28 p.m