- Study: 37,000 salespeople will be missing by 2027
How will the skills gap develop in the coming years? Researchers at the IW institute, close to employers, have investigated this. The largest gap is expected to be among salespeople. By 2027, around 37,000 skilled workers could be missing, according to a study.
Pandemic-driven reorientation
There are already shortages of salespeople in many places. In 2022, the number of unemployed in this area was significantly lower than the number of vacancies (65,000). According to the study's author and economist Alexander Burstedde, this is also due to many employees having changed careers during the Corona pandemic and not returning to their old jobs.
Sales professionals, with around 850,000, are the fourth-largest occupational group in Germany. This includes retail merchants and specialist salespeople - people who work with customer contact in stores, such as cashiers or other sales staff.
The experts expect the second-largest skills shortage to be among educators. By 2027, more than 27,600 positions could remain unfilled, according to calculations. While the number of employees is increasing, it is not doing so fast enough to cover the rapidly growing demand, says Burstedde. "We need more educators to enable parents to work more." Many skilled workers are also missing in social work, nursing, and IT.
Greater shortage expected in East Germany
Overall, a further increase in the skills gap is expected in the coming years, with the increase in East Germany being particularly strong, according to IW. The main reason for this is that many people will retire in the coming years and there is not enough new talent coming in.
The IW predicts the largest decline in employment by 2027 for unskilled and semi-skilled workers in metalworking and trained bank clerks. "The old saying 'Do something safe and become a banker' is no longer valid. Banks don't know what to do with the people at the counter because many branches are closing and customers are using online banking," says Burstedde.
The scientist recommends two measures against the skills gap. Employers should try to keep older people in employment longer. Migrants also offer great potential to alleviate shortages.
In light of the shrinking number of unemployed salespeople compared to job vacancies, some sales professionals might have shifted careers due to the Corona pandemic and not returned to their previous roles, contributing to the anticipated shortage of around 37,000 skilled workers in this field by 2027, as mentioned by economist Alexander Burstedde. Furthermore, visitors to Cologne might find it challenging to locate skilled sales personnel in various retail establishments due to this growing skills gap.
