Care for the elderly – all over the country, the institutions are looking for staff. But last year the industry even recorded a decline in employees for months.
Despite the shortage of skilled workers in geriatric care, the industry was able to gain significantly fewer employees in the Corona year 2020 than in previous years. The increase in employment was halved, as shown by a response from the Federal Employment Agency to a request from the Left in the Bundestag, which the German Press Agency in Berlin has received.
The industry had around 629,000 employees at the end of 2020, 10,000 more than at the end of 2019. This corresponds to an increase of 1.6 percent in employment subject to social security contributions. In the previous year the increase was a good 3.1 percent. In the previous year it was even just under 3.3 percent.
The left-wing MP Pia Zimmermann, who had made the request, emphasized that the increase in employment in the care of the elderly had not yet been able to change anything in terms of staff shortages and workload. A decline in growth alone is therefore an alarming sign, said Zimmermann of the dpa.
The additional burdens in the care facilities due to Corona are not the only reason for the collapse in employment dynamics. Because in 2020 there were consistently declines in the number of employees from January to July – even before the onset of the pandemic in spring. In previous years there had only been such declines in individual months.
A comparison with nursing shows a different picture: There was also an increase in the number of employees in the past year. The increase in 2020 was 3.2 percent after 2.6 and 1.7 percent in previous years.
Attempts to politically counteract the shortage of skilled workers in the care of the elderly have had at best moderate success in recent years, according to Zimmermann. As an example, the politician named the “13,000 job program” launched in 2019, which with almost 3,000 jobs has so far fallen short of expectations, she said, referring to the umbrella association of health insurance companies.
Zimmermann called for resolute countermeasures for growing numbers of employees – also with the participation of Caritas and Diakonie as large operators of care facilities. Zimmermann suggested that a commission of experts, including the participation of the two church organizations and the Verdi service union, should meet in the summer. In adequate collective agreements and their solid financing
there is no way around it.
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.
