Reward & Benefits

Labour Shortage in Germany

According to the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz (“Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection”), up to 16 million fewer people are expected to be in the labour market by 2060. The labour shortage is thus an increasingly important issue that already concerns many com­panies today - more than 50% of companies even consider the shortage of skilled workers to be an increasing threat to their business activities.

What are the reasons for the shortage of skilled workers?

The reasons for the shortage of skilled workers are diverse. In particular, demographic change is contributing to deficiencies of skilled workers, as the highly populated baby boomer generation will retire completely in the next few years. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the labour market. Due to lockdowns, the service sector in particular has had to put many employees on short-time work, lay them off or even lose them to other sectors. The majority of these workers have not yet returned to their previous employers, further widening the already existing gap in skilled workers. In addition, many apprenticeship positions remain unfilled, since high school gra­duates are increasingly tending to go to university and the number of school leavers without a lower secondary school leaving certificate is also increasing.