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Erfurt (dpa / th) - Employees who are absent from work due to illness or childcare are currently among the greatest impairments for the metal and electrical industry, according to a survey.

60 percent of the Thuringian companies that took part in a quick industry survey at the end of January named the absence of employees as a main cause of business restrictions, as the Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry Thuringia (VMET) announced on Saturday.

Almost half of the companies cited a lack of material due to supply chain problems and a lack of demand as further reasons for impaired operational processes.

"Compared to the survey in October 2020, these impairments have increased significantly," said VMET Managing Director Stephan Fauth.

All of this has an impact on sales expectations.

40 percent of the companies assumed a decline of an average of nine percent, but more than half hope for increases.

According to the survey, the average capacity utilization of companies was 80 percent, in mechanical engineering in particular 75 percent.

There is a recovery in the automotive industry, with a capacity utilization of 87 percent.

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All of this has an impact on sales expectations, it said.

40 percent of the companies expect declines, more than half hope for increases.

On average, the companies expected a decline of almost nine percent.

Around a third of the companies use short-time working.

26 percent of the companies assumed that they would have to reduce employment due to the effects of the crisis.

"This development shows that overcoming the consequences of the crisis takes more time than expected in October 2020," said Fauth and also referred to the current collective bargaining.

"There is nothing to distribute, because the companies must not be further burdened if jobs are to be preserved and structural change to succeed."

In Thuringia, 101 companies with 28 086 employees are involved in the metal and electrical industry.

Of these companies, 17 with 9,749 employees took part in the survey by employers' associations in the industry.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210220-99-519997 / 2

Results of the quick poll