Skills gap smaller, but no recovery yet – economy

The skills gap in Germany will have narrowed slightly in 2023. 570,000 vacancies could not be filled with qualified candidates. That is 62,000, almost ten percent less than in the previous year, reported the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) of the employer-related Institute of German Economy (IW).

In 2022, the shortage of skilled workers had reached its highest level since the beginning of the observation period in 2010. According to the study, the fact that the numbers have fallen is not a sign of recovery. Due to the weakened economy, there were more unemployed qualified specialists and fewer vacancies. “Despite its decline, the skills gap remains at a very high level,” said study author Jurek Tiedemann. Due to the difficult economic situation, a reduction is to be expected again in 2024, but a rapid increase should there be an upswing. The shortage of skilled workers has particularly increased recently in transport professions.

The largest percentage increase was among bus and tram drivers. There was a shortage of 3,594 employees here, almost 90 percent more than in the previous year. There were more than 4,000 unfilled train driver positions. However, according to the study, the largest gaps still exist in the areas of health, social affairs, teaching and education. On average, six out of ten open positions could not be filled. Last year there was a shortage of 17,656 skilled workers in health and nursing, and 30,311 positions were vacant in child care and education – more than in any other profession. “In order to attract more people to work in this professional area, it is important to make the professions more attractive,” says Tiedemann. There are also significant bottlenecks in crafts and professions that are relevant to achieving political climate goals, housing construction and digital change.