The German construction industry faces a bleak future. In the coming years, many owners will retire and there will be no successors. Many companies are threatened with long-term closure.
According to experts, thousands of construction companies in Germany will have to give up in the medium term due to succession problems.
According to an analysis by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), which was published in Bonn on Friday, every second company in the construction industry is facing the resignation of the owner in the next ten years. That’s 163,000 companies. The study was based on a representative survey of more than 2,500 contractors.
Specifically, less than ten percent (12,000 to 15,000) of the 163,000 companies are likely to be continued by owners with withdrawal problems, it said. “The majority of the companies will probably be shut down – not least because no successors can be found for these mostly small companies.”
However, the authors do not see any major consequences for construction projects: the majority of the jobs and orders at risk are likely to be absorbed by other companies in the construction industry, companies from other sectors or from abroad. Only a good 12 percent of the orders in question should not be executed, it said. However, regional effects should not be underestimated if shutdowns are concentrated in certain regions, said the head of the BBSR, Markus Eltges.
The construction industry, which was one of the few sectors in Germany to have defied the Corona crisis, is currently under pressure due to rising prices for building materials and supply bottlenecks. “The companies are still in a positive mood,” said recently the general manager of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry, Felix Pakleppa, the dpa. However, further developments with a view to the supply of steel or bitumen, which is important for road construction, are decisive. One looks with great concern at the war in Ukraine and at corona lockdowns in China, which caused delivery problems.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
