Bernhard Kolles drove the few meters to the meeting of the regional committee of the IHK at the wheel of a bus. The head of VBM Busreisen GmbH has little time. He has to go on soon to pick up a group at BMW World in Munich. But he wants to be there at least briefly when the entrepreneurs’ representation in the district of Munich talks about the topic that occupies many company owners like no other: the shortage of skilled workers. He had 32 bus drivers before the corona pandemic, says Kolles on the sidelines of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce meeting, now there are six. That’s why he has to get behind the wheel more often himself. Many companies are currently being slowed down in a similar way, because not only are bus drivers missing, but also engineers, programmers, bricklayers, bakers and the waiters in the inn.
The problem is not new in the district of Munich, where there has been full employment for years, and it is a particular burden for many companies after the end of the corona pandemic. You want to get started now and can’t. “The topic is elementary for us,” says the chairman of the IHK committee, Christoph Höhler, while he is sitting in the garden of his company in the Heimstetten industrial park for the first time with a larger group of company bosses. Leiber: “We don’t have any people, we need trainees, we need employees.”
According to a survey, the shortage of staff is the biggest problem for companies
In an IHK survey at the beginning of the year, entrepreneurs named the shortage of skilled workers as the biggest problem throughout Bavaria, ahead of the difficulties in the supply chain. Since then, with the war in Ukraine, there have been some worry lines. But in the district of Munich in particular, the personnel issue is currently being raised with new sharpness. It has long been difficult to fill vacancies in childcare workers, nursing staff and other professions with average salaries because living space is so expensive and scarce. Now there are large gaps in retail, trade, gastronomy and drivers. “Where have they all gone?” asks Magnus Harlander, founder and CEO of Isar AG, a company for sustainable investments, who is actually on the move somewhere else when it comes to recruiting personnel.
Wilfried Hüntelmann, head of the Munich employment agency, sees a central task in the further training of employees.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The direct addressees for such questions are sitting at the table this time. Elfriede Kerschl is head of department at the IHK Munich and Upper Bavaria. She addresses the demographic development. Many employees would have reoriented themselves during the pandemic. Some have returned to their home countries. Wilfried Hüntelmann, CEO of the Munich Employment Agency, sees new challenges, also for his agency. “We used to be an employment agency. That’s no longer enough, that’s no longer possible.” The training and further education in cooperation with the agency is the “alpha and omega”. 45 percent of those registered as unemployed had no professional qualifications.
Employment agencies, chambers of commerce and companies still see potential abroad. According to Kerschl, with the Skilled Immigration Act since 2020, proof of qualification and the employment contract have been sufficient for entry. Like the agency, the IHK offers special services. Testimonials and certificates from other countries are checked quickly. Refugees from Ukraine are allowed to work anyway. Many are well qualified and speak English. According to an IHK survey, 35 percent of companies wanted to recruit skilled workers from abroad.
Some of the potential abroad has already been exhausted
But in practice difficulties remain. In Brazil, for example, companies still have to find the mechatronics technician with a certificate themselves. “It’s actually not that easy,” says Kerschl. Philipp Bryxi, authorized signatory at the high-tech service provider IABG with around 1000 employees in Ottobrunn, complains about obstacles to further training in the company. A search for personnel abroad ties up a lot of resources and in the end you don’t know whether the employee is a good match. The spokesman for the committee, Höhler, insists on more direct assistance from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the agency. “Can I just call the unemployment office?” he asks. Is there an extension number for the head of department for bosses?
Christoph Höhler calls for concrete support for the entrepreneurs.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
Florian Schardt, IT entrepreneur and chairman of the district SPD, is calling for pressure on politicians, especially with regard to the district, so that men and women can work in families. According to him, it is fatal if a group has to close in a daycare center in Ottobrunn. If there is no care for 25 children, “we have 25 fewer skilled workers”. A high percentage of childcare places cannot be occupied at all. Elfriede Kerschl warns that families should also have their backs when it comes to caring for them. A working group installed by the regional committee is in contact with the district office about such questions. In addition to all this, there are special effects in some sectors. In view of the technological revolution, many companies simply have a thick backlog of orders.
Kerschl advocates understanding the EU as a labor market. If you get an employee from afar, bring an acquaintance with you. Word gets around about the good job in Germany. Of course, bus operator Kolles knows all that. The bus drivers from Romania or Croatia: For him, this reservoir is almost exhausted. He fights on all fronts. Before he hurries to the bus, he says, he’s already “land under”.