Germany is running out of skilled labor, but only 16% of companies find skilled foreign workers. A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation asks for reasons.

Nearly 34 million people in Germany have a regular job. This is a new record. But at the same time the number of vacancies is growing. With the retirement of the generation born in years with a significant number of births and demographic development, the number of potential working age workers is being reduced.

More and more companies are complaining about the lack of skilled labor. For the German economy this is turning into one of the biggest risks. How much the situation is getting worse is clear from a current poll conducted by the opinion institute, Civey, commissioned by the German Bertelsmann Foundation. Of the 7,500 companies surveyed there, 66% said they could not find enough skilled labor. Last year this figure was 55%. 

From year to year more difficult? 

The situation varies by branch, region, profession and qualification. If the enterprises that suffer from the lack of qualified power are asked, what is missing the most, then they get the answer from every second firm, that the persons with completed professional education are missing. To academics it is every fourth venture. If you look at the economic sectors, you notice that the health and care sector for the elderly suffers the most from the lack of skilled labor. 

"The fact is that we are running out of skilled labor," the head of the Federal Employment Agency, Detlef Scheele, warned in August. "From the workforce to caring for the elderly to climate technicians or logistics and academics. There will be a shortage of manpower everywhere." 

According to Scheele it takes 400,000 skilled foreigners a year to fill labor market gaps. In practice, the arrival of a skilled workforce does not play a major role. Only 16% of enterprises according to the Berstelsmann study said they were getting manpower from abroad. Most try to attract the domestic workforce with tempting offers. Higher salaries, further education, or family care offers.

The main obstacle language 

As of March 2020, a law is in force in Germany that facilitates the qualified workforce from non-EU member states to come to Germany. However, many enterprises are afraid of attracting labor from abroad. The reasons are different. But most important is the concern about the difficulties of language communication and the difficulty in assessing the qualification of the applicant. More or less the same, but with differences in sectors are the responses of enterprises that have meanwhile recruited labor from abroad. It turns out that some reservations are not so unjustified. For example in language. And bureaucratic hurdles on the other hand came out in the poll as lower than they seemed at first. 

Lowering barriers 

The Bertelsmann Foundation in its study concludes, that policy efforts to improve the arrival of labor have borne fruit. For example, through the accelerated procedure, through the promotion of language learning and the improvement of the information offer for the recognition of foreign diplomas, results have been achieved. But "nevertheless barriers to manpower acquisition remain despite significant progress," warns Matthias Mayer, a migration expert at the Bertelsmann Foundation. 

In the survey 67% of enterprises expect to have less manpower than they need next year. "The shortage of manpower will be further aggravated and its end does not appear. As a society we need sustainable solutions to cope with demographic change and socio-ecological transformation." 

Transnational partnerships 

It is crucial to see how the law on the arrival of skilled labor will be implemented. This is part, according to migration experts, to make more understandable the competencies acquired abroad and their recognition. One idea is to create education partnerships between Germany and other countries, which can contribute to improving the attractiveness of the workforce it wants to come. In this regard, 57% of enterprises have expressed positively for more international agreements for mediation and education of skilled labor.

(Source: DW)