Germany Suffers a Labor Shortage
BERLIN—The surprising strength of Germany's economic rebound is exacerbating an already worrying problem for legions of its companies: a dearth of skilled workers.
Industrialists and economists long have warned of a looming shortage of skilled German labor, a consequence of the country's declining birth rate and an exodus in recent year of engineers and other highly trained workers, to around the European Union, the U.S. and elsewhere. But the rapid recovery of Germany's export-fueled economy in recent months has suddenly brought the problem home for many domestic companies, which fret that the shortage could restrain their ability to respond to the nascent rebound.
Though German unemployment still hovers around 7.6%, about 70% of German companies report they are having trouble finding enough master craftsmen, technicians and other skilled labor, according to a survey released this week by the DIHK Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. Companies haven't been able to fill some 36,000 engineering jobs open across the country, the Association of German engineers reports.
Bitkom, Germany's largest information-technology industry association, says the same goes for 43,000 IT posts.
"And this is happening just barely out of the severe recession of 2009," said Hans Heinrich Driftmann, DIHK's president. "As the economy improves and companies need to hire more people, it's only going to get more severe."
For now, Germany's marquee corporations, such as Siemens AG and BMW AG, have enough skilled job applicants, thanks to aggressive recruiting and generous training programs. But many of the country's Mittelstand, the thousands of small to mid-size companies that are the backbone of its export-led economy and provider of 70% of German jobs, are struggling to find needed employees as demand picks up.
One is DELO Industrie Klebstoffe GmbH, a Bavarian maker of industrial adhesives. With €30 million ($38 million) in sales and 230 employees, the family-owned firm is looking to hire another 60 highly skilled workers this year as orders from the electronics, auto and other industries take off. But so far, filling the posts has been difficult.
"We're troubled most of all by the search for technicians and engineers," said DELO Executive Director Sabine Herold. Located near Munich, the company says it is tough to compete for skilled job candidates with better-known companies in the area, so Ms. Herold has been trying to forge closer ties to universities and vocational-training institutes, and sponsoring business programs at local high schools.
"If we're going to expand further, we need smart people right away," Ms. Herold said. "But a lot of school graduates don't know us."
Behind the growing shortage is a combination of demographic trouble spots. Like in many European countries, Germany's declining birth rate—at 1.38 children born per woman on average in 2009—isn't enough to keep its population stable. And since 2008, more people have been leaving Germany than immigrating to it. That tendency is particularly strong among those with university or vocational training degrees. Last year, some 27,500 post-secondary-school graduates came to Germany from other European countries, for example, while 32,000 left for elsewhere in the European Union.
Economists estimate the skilled worker shortage is resulting in annual economic loss of between 15 billion euros and 20 billion euros, and with that, more potential jobs. "If there isn't enough skilled labor, then there can't be more production," said Klaus Zimmermann, president of the DIW German Institute for Economic Research.
Major companies are acting to counter the trend longer term. BMW and Siemens, for example, have expanded in recent years programs that train apprentices in specialized technical fields as they pursue post-secondary degrees at universities or technical colleges, thereby compressing the training time before they can fully join the work force.
"They don't have any difficulties getting hired. They're in great demand," said Günther Hohlweg, head of Siemens' training programs, who adds that 90% remain with Siemens.
Others are using older workers. German auto-supplier giant Robert Bosch GmbH maintains a reserve of several hundred semiretired skilled employees between ages 60 and 75 that it taps when it has to ramp up production and can't find enough qualified labor on short notice.
Daimler AG, which manufacturers Mercedes-Benz cars, anticipates that within 10 years half of its workers will be older than 50 years, compared with 25% now. To accommodate them, it has introduced more flexible shift rotations and installed strength-training equipment near plant assembly lines. According to this month's DIHK survey, 21% of the 1,600 companies polled said they would take steps to draw more older workers.
As Germany's economy has gathered strength in recent months, the skilled-worker shortage has reignited a debate about immigration policies, and created a new source of tension within Germany's center-right governing coalition.
Earlier this month, the country's economics minister, Rainer Brüderle, proposed introducing cash "welcome" payments to lure more skilled foreign workers to Germany, as well as lowering the minimum income level it requires for skilled workers to be eligible for extended immigrant status. The current annual income level is 66,000 euros, which many economists and companies say is too high.
The proposals were quickly rejected by labor leaders, as well as a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said the government just introduced immigration policies in January 2009 aimed at making it easier for foreigners trained in Germany to find work there, and their effect had yet to be felt.
WSJ
El gobierno haría mejor en obligar a todos los parados a realizar cursos intensivos de alemán, ya se sabe, el bien para Alemania es el bien común (sobretodo si te envían remesas a la par que dejan de absorber del bote)
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