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Germany/ Companies, on alert for lack of workers

2024-02-29 09:26:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The lack of labor - skilled or unskilled - is hindering economic development in Germany. According to the Federal Minister of Labour, Hubertus Heil, the lack of labor can become the main obstacle to economic development. Therefore, the SPD minister invited more than 700 representatives of the economy, various associations and educational institutions to a one-day congress in Berlin.

"On that day, we will promote many good ideas about how to ensure a sufficient number of professional workforce, ideas that already exist but need to become more popular," said Heil, who opened the congress with the Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (Greens) and Minister of Education Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP).

In Germany, 46 million people are currently active in the labor market, which is a record. "So Germany is still a very busy country," Heil said. He mentioned education as a starting point for solving the problem of labor shortage. According to the minister, there are about 1.6 million people aged 20-29 without any qualifications in the country. It is important that every young person has a chance to enter the labor market, Heil added.

More women and older workers

Heil therefore calls for greater use of all the means by which the lack of professional labor can be reduced: "It is a greater proportion of women in the total population, the elderly and the disabled who can engage more in work". Furthermore, the aim is to "attract smart heads and hard-working hands" from abroad to Germany. "The provision of qualified workers is the provision of well-being", emphasized the federal Minister of Labor.

The Federal Minister of Education Bettina Stark-Watzinger particularly emphasized the possibility of dual education. It is a great opportunity that opens the door to a professional career," said the FDP politician.

Every year, at least 45,000 young people leave school without any qualification and without any diploma, explained the German Minister of Education. That is why the federal government, as she noted, has launched a special stimulus program, worth several billion euros, from which 4,000 schools should benefit. The purpose of the program is to facilitate the entry of young people into the labor market.

Unions complain about poor working conditions

The president of the Association of German Trade Unions (DGB), Yasmin Fahimi, sees poor working conditions as a serious cause of the lack of skilled labor in Germany. "Where the conditions are bad and the workload is high, there will be a shortage of labor in the short or long term," Fahimi told the newspapers of the media group Funke. Bad working conditions are an important reason for employees to they decide to change their profession or why they don't even decide to get a job at all, claims the head of the DGB. And that's how "the vicious circle begins", according to Fahim. "Because of the labor shortage, work becomes an even greater burden for the remaining skilled workers."

Therefore, Fahimi demands the improvement of working conditions for employees, i.e. anti-stress programs or collective agreements that would offer opportunities to reduce the workload. Stress is a clear signal to employers that they need to do something about the mental or physical workload of their employees, she points out. "Employers who ignore this, or compensate for the lack of skilled labor by overworking current employees, are only hurting themselves because employees are overworked, and this is at the expense of everyone. society."

Hans-Jürgen Urban, member of the Governing Board of IG Metall (the union of workers in the metal industry...) makes a similar argument. In a statement to the RND media network, he said: "The problem is not the general lack of labor." Urban adds that there are problems with the lack of labor where the working conditions are very bad, that is, where the pay is low or where the conditions and qualifications required for a job are very high. Many companies have not yet realized that meanwhile the attractiveness of the employer is one of the main competencies, warns Urban./ DW