According to a survey, the shortage of skilled workers is a problem for an increasing number of companies in Germany.

Two thirds (66 percent) of the surveyed decision-makers from companies of different sizes stated that they had a shortage of skilled workers.

29 percent do not see themselves affected by this at the moment.

This was the result of an analysis published on Thursday on behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation, for which the research company Civey surveyed around 7,500 decision-makers from August to October.

Compared to the 2020 survey, in which 55 percent saw bottlenecks and 38 percent did not, this means a worsening of the situation.

The currently described shortage of qualified workers is also significantly greater than the companies would have expected a year ago, it was said in Gütersloh.

The situation differs depending on the industry, region, job description and qualification.

Employees who have completed their vocational training are particularly sought after - 48 percent of the companies surveyed report a shortage.

Only 27 percent of the companies stated this for academics.

Although the immigration of skilled workers helps to alleviate the problem, it continues to play “only a subordinate role” for companies, according to the study.

Care particularly badly affected

According to the survey, the care sector and the health sector as a whole are particularly affected by the shortage of skilled workers.

There are bottlenecks in all federal states - somewhat more in Bavaria, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

The problem tends to be less pronounced in Berlin, Bremen and Saarland.

There is no sign of a trend reversal: 67 percent of the company decision-makers surveyed assume that they will also have fewer skilled workers than needed in the coming year.

Sustainable concepts are needed to master demographic change and the socio-ecological transformation, emphasized the foundation's migration expert, Matthias Mayer.

This included immigration, training and further education.

Currently, however, only 16 percent of the companies surveyed rely on the recruitment of skilled workers from abroad.

There is more emphasis on in-house training, on models for combining family and work, and on further training opportunities.