Labor market
These sectors lack the most skilled workers
Physiotherapists, heating technicians, nurses: In many professions in Germany, positions often cannot be filled appropriately. A study shows where there are particularly large bottlenecks.
The healthcare sector is the sector most affected by the shortage of skilled workers in Germany. Around 47,400 positions could not be filled with suitably qualified applicants on average for 2023/2024. This emerges from calculations by the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) of the employer-related Institute of the German Economy (IW).
Most of the bottlenecks in this sector are with almost 11,600 positions for physiotherapists. There are 7,350 dental assistants and 7,100 in health and nursing care. The aging population could increase the shortage.
“An aging population leads to an increasing need for health services. This increases the burden on existing skilled workers,” write the study authors. The healthcare sector was already in first place in the industry rankings in previous years.
Skills gap contributes to difficulties in housing construction
The second largest skills gap is in the areas of preparatory construction site work, construction installation and other finishing trades. Around 42,000 jobs cannot be filled here. A particularly large number are in construction electrical engineering (10,350) as well as plumbing, heating and air conditioning technology (8,700). According to the study, the bottlenecks also contribute to the slow pace of housing construction.
With 41,250, the third-largest shortage of skilled workers is in the “public administration, defense, social security” sector of the economy. Public administration, social work and education as well as child care and education are particularly badly affected. In fourth and fifth place in the ranking are the retail (29,800) and social services (28,000) sectors, not including homes.
The situation is forcing many employees to reduce their working hours
Kofa expert Philipp Herzer sees a problem primarily in the bottlenecks in the social and health services. These could therefore have a negative impact on the shortage of skilled workers in other professions. A scarce supply of public welfare services, for example in daycare centers and nursing homes, often has to be provided privately and forces parents and carers to reduce their weekly working hours.
The skills gap has recently narrowed slightly overall. Between July 2023 and June 2024, there was an average shortage of around 532,000 suitably qualified job seekers. That was almost 13 percent less than a year before. However, according to the study, historically the shortage of skilled workers remains at a “very high level”.
dpa
Source: Stern
