The search for qualified personnel is gradually becoming the biggest problem for German companies, according to a study by the management consultancy Deloitte: "The shortage of skilled workers is now again the most important risk for companies, followed by rising raw material costs, increasing regulation and energy costs," wrote Deloitte chief economist Alexander Börsch in the study published in Munich on Thursday.
The consultants interviewed 158 CFOs at German companies in September.
Two thirds named the shortage of skilled workers as a high risk.
"This means that the tight labor markets are holding companies back," said Börsch.
“The shortage of skilled workers runs through all industries.” The real estate and construction industries are currently suffering the most, affecting almost three quarters of companies.
The board members see growing risk factors in raw materials and energy costs, "which have reached threatening proportions for 42 percent of companies".
In the automotive and chemical industries it is even around 70 percent.
Automotive industry more pessimistic
In principle, the CFOs surveyed continue to assess the economic outlook as positive, albeit no longer as optimistic as in spring or last autumn. When it comes to the business outlook for their own company, the retail and consumer goods industries were the most confident. "An important outlier is the auto industry, which is much more pessimistic than the other industries about the next twelve months."
The investment intentions of the companies and their willingness to hire are very high.
“There are two long-term, very momentous developments here,” said Börsch: “On the one hand, the increasing scarcity on the labor markets, which is likely to become even more acute in the current decade due to demographic developments.
On the other hand, higher investments in digital technology could increase overall economic productivity, which has been ailing for a long time, and thus increase growth. ”The productivity growth in Germany has halved since the beginning of the millennium.
"A paradoxical side effect of the Corona crisis could be the overcoming of the investment weakness of the companies and a strongly accelerated digitization."