Companies are hiring again: Where there are good job opportunities – economy

The signs are pointing upwards on the German labor market. More and more companies are looking for employees again – especially in industry, where the situation was bad for a long time. “The days of rising unemployment as a result of the war are probably over,” says Enzo Weber, head of forecasts at the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB). The Munich Ifo Institute for Economic Research reports that the mechanical engineering and electrical industries in particular are currently recruiting staff. Overall, the willingness to hire new people in industry increased significantly at the beginning of the year.

This is remarkable because the industry was already shrinking before the Corona crisis, then struggled with supply chain problems for a long time and is now also suffering from high energy prices. However, the new job opportunities are in line with the economic development: while it was predicted a few months ago that the German economy would shrink this year, the situation has now brightened. Economic researchers and the federal government are now assuming that gross domestic product will at least stagnate in 2023 or maybe even grow slightly.

But not only industrial companies would like to hire new employees, service providers are also looking for employees, especially in the IT sector. Large companies have announced that they will cut jobs here, but after the large American digital groups, the software manufacturer SAP now also wants to cut a total of 3,000 jobs, 200 of them in Germany. “But these layoffs are an opportunity for many small and medium-sized companies to hire new employees,” says Ifo researcher Klaus Wohlrabe. In normal times, they often cannot keep up with the wages of large companies.

In trade, on the other hand, there is little movement in terms of jobs. But even in the construction industry there are positive employment prospects despite the difficult situation. Construction had boomed even during the severe Corona crisis in 2020. In recent months, however, rising prices and interest rates have been putting pressure on business. Builders who have to pay more for loans after the European Central Bank’s interest rate hikes are postponing or canceling their projects. Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) had therefore recently announced a new funding program for new buildings.

The leading indicator of the Nuremberg IAB Institute also shows that things are clearly going up. The labor market barometer rose for the third time in a row in January, with just under 103 points it was well above the neutral mark of 100, which indicates stagnation. “Job agencies expect the labor market to overcome the consequences of the energy crisis,” says IAB economist Weber.

Two million positions cannot currently be filled

Last year there were fears that the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the great uncertainty that would follow would lead to significantly higher unemployment. This has not happened so far – and is now no longer to be expected. Only if there were a shortage of gas next winter and many factories had to close would many layoffs be threatened. An escalation of the Ukraine war and other geopolitical conflicts also continue to harbor risks.

As long as these do not occur, however, there will be a shortage of personnel on the labor market. According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), almost two million jobs in Germany cannot currently be filled. “Labour is currently scarcer than it has been since the economic miracle of the 1950s and 1960s,” says researcher Enzo Weber. At the same time, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office, there were a good 3.1 million unemployed women and men in Germany who would like to work. This so-called hidden reserve includes, for example, people who cannot take up work in the short term due to care obligations or who are currently not looking for a job because they think they cannot find a suitable job.

source site