A study shows that the situation in transport professions could become even worse in the coming years in terms of a lack of skilled workers. There are various reasons for this.
The skills gap in Germany has recently grown the most in transport professions. This emerges from a study by the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) of the employer-related Institute of German Economy (IW), which was published today. The largest percentage increase compared to the previous year was 89 percent for bus and tram drivers. Here, 3,594 positions could not be filled with suitably qualified candidates. For skilled workers in signal boxes and in operational service, the gap increased by almost 80 percent to 2,265, and for train drivers by 45 percent to more than 4,000.
The study authors attribute the sharp increase primarily to an increased need for skilled workers. “The increase in the skills gap in transport professions is closely linked to the mobility transition. Efforts to strengthen and revitalize rail and public transport are driving demand for qualified specialists,” said economist Jurek Tiedemann. The bottlenecks would be exacerbated by demographic change. Many employees in the industry retired in the next few years.
Overall, the skills gap will have narrowed slightly in 2023. 570,000 vacancies could not be filled with suitably qualified people. That is almost ten percent less than in the previous year. “Despite its decline, the skills gap remains at a very high level,” said Tiedemann. According to the study, the greatest shortage of skilled workers still exists in the areas of health, social affairs, teaching and education. Due to the difficult economic situation, according to the study, it is expected that the skills gap will continue to narrow this year.
Source: Stern
