IW: There is a lack of skilled workers in these professional groups

The skilled worker situation is taking the wind out of the sails of Germany, which is already in decline. This is also shown by a short report from the German Economic Institute: On average, there is a nationwide shortage of over 530,000 qualified workers. In 2022, the shortage of skilled workers was at its highest point to date with 630,000 unfilled positions.

Due to economic reasons, the number of job vacancies fell by 4.2% on average until 2024, while the number of unemployed rose by 8.9%. Child care and education remains the number one profession with the largest skills gap. On average, more than 21,013 open positions could not be filled here in 2023/2024. This means there is a lack of around 300,000 childcare places for children under three. This shortage is accompanied by subsequent problems for parents, who have to reduce their working hours for this reason. The shortage of skilled workers takes second place after experts in social work and social education (18,325 vacancies), followed by construction electrical specialists (18,287), health and nursing specialists (16,698) and automotive technicians (16,281). Sales comes in 8th place: According to the German Economic Institute, the retail sector is lacking 12,651 skilled workers. This deficiency is not only noticeable for the professional group, but also for consumers in everyday life.