Economy
Mechanical engineers keep the workforce stable – still
Despite the doldrums and decline in production, the number of employees in the industry has hardly dropped. But that could soon change because of the continuing economic weakness.
Germany’s machine and plant builders go into a difficult year of 2025 with largely stable employees. However, around a quarter of companies are forced to reduce personnel in view of the economic weakness in the coming months. “How much of this will be permanent how much can be compensated for by new settings at a later date cannot be said seriously,” the chief economist of the industry association VDMA, Ralph Wiechers.
Last year, the number of positions in the industry decreased by 0.7 percent or 6,800 jobs only minimally despite the order and decline in production. According to the Association of German Machine and Plant Construction (VDMA), 1.02 million people in companies with at least 50 employees worked at the end of the year. The industry has thus kept its position as the largest industrial employer in Germany.
Demand for labor market reforms
According to the VDMA, the companies will try all forces due to the shortage of skilled workers not to reduce their regular workforce. Most companies (60 percent) expect them to be able to keep their regular workforce in the first half of 2025 despite the challenging situation.
However, a new federal government must quickly get reforms on the labor market in order to fundamentally improve the situation, the VDMA demands. Among other things, a modern working time law with weekly- instead of the daily maximum time, it is necessary to reduce bureaucracy, especially in labor law.
dpa
Source: Stern
