Too many jobs in Germany, No Workers to fill them

Employers in many sectors of the German economy are facing labor shortages, under the dual pressures of an aging population and inflation-fighting measures that have kept wages low in comparison with its neighbors.

Germany’s unemployment rate is the lowest in 18 years.

As of May 1, the restrictions that Germany and Austria imposed in 2004 on East Europeans wanting to work in the two countries will be lifted.

In theory, a flood of workers should be able and willing to pour into Germany, to take advantage of its booming economy and generous social benefits. In practice, however, economists say that many workers who wanted to emigrate from the eight East European countries that joined the European Union in 2005 have already done so — to countries like Britain, Ireland and Sweden that kept their borders open.

And even though the economy is faltering in some of those countries, like Britain and Ireland, employers are concerned that workers who have made a new home outside their native countries are unlikely to want to move again.

McKinsey, the consulting firm, published a report last year that concluded that by 2020 Germany would have a shortfall of two million qualified people to fill open jobs. The engineering sector, crucial to Germany’s export boom, says it is short thousands of engineers.

The high-tech industry, telecommunications, manufacturing and services already need people. The Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media, Germany’s leading high-tech industry organization, says its members are short 28,000 qualified workers.

Health care is another secBy 2030, we will need one million more people to look after the elderlytor in trouble. “,” said Bernd Tews, director of the Federal Association of Private Care.

The number of people 65 and older will increase by about half until the end of the 2030s, to around 24 million from nearly 16 million now, according to the Federal Statistics Office. The population older than 80 will grow to 10 million in 2050, from nearly 4.5 million today.

And with an average of 1.38 children being born to each woman, demographers say the birth rate is not high enough to keep the population stable. Over the next 50 years, Germany’s population is expected to fall by 17 million from the current 82 million. Policy makers say it will become increasingly difficult to raise tax revenue to support retirees and maintain economic growth.

By JUDY DEMPSEY for IHT,February 4, 2011