Skills gap decreases slightly - climate experts in demand
The skilled labor situation in Germany remains tense. According to a study, the number of vacancies fell in September and decreased by 13% compared to the previous year.
However, with a good 510,000 vacancies (seasonally adjusted), the skills gap remains at a high level. This is the result of a study by the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Workers (Kofa) of the German Economic Institute (IW), which is close to employers, and is available to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Differences in the sectors
According to the study, on average more than four out of ten vacancies could not be filled with suitably qualified personnel. Experts see the difficult economic situation as the main reason for the slight decline in job vacancies. However, demand has increased significantly in some sectors. For example, there are currently significantly more vacancies for specialists in renewable energy technology. Compared to the previous year, the study shows an increase of 190 percent. A significant increase in vacancies can also be observed in other professions that are important for the energy transition. "The growing skills gap in these professions could jeopardize the achievement of climate targets," says study author Valeria Quispe.
The personnel situation is particularly tense in the areas of "monitoring and controlling rail traffic operations" and "building services engineering". In both professions, there are only eleven suitably qualified unemployed people for every 100 jobs. The demand for skilled workers varies considerably depending on the occupational group. The "language, literature, humanities, social and economic sciences, media, art, culture and design" sector recorded a particularly significant decline compared to the previous year (-13.9%).
While the number of job vacancies has decreased, the number of qualified unemployed rose to more than one million in September. That is 7.8 percent more than in September 2022. "It would be worthwhile to focus on semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Targeted further training could turn at least some of them into qualified specialists," says expert Quispe.
The decrease in unemployment rates didn't significantly impact the labor market, as specialists in various sectors, such as renewable energy technology and rail traffic operations, continue to be in high demand. Despite the rise in qualified unemployed individuals, focusing on further training for semi-skilled and unskilled workers could potentially alleviate this skills gap issue in certain professions.
Source: www.dpa.com
