BERLIN: German economy shows no signs of slowing down even after nine years of growth, but there are increasing signs that Europe’s powerhouse may be reaching its limits. Shortages of skilled workers, factories operating at nearly full capacity, and bottlenecks in supply chains threaten to brake the country’s surging economy.
The limits are affecting not only the manufacturing industry, but services and construction as well. And while IT workers are hard to come by, caretakers for an aging population are in even shorter supply. They have plenty of suggestions on how to do that. Greater emphasis on recruitment and training for skilled workers is an obvious step. In the meantime, almost every measure shows an economy near its limits. The country has 1.2 million job openings a record. There are only 194 unemployed for every 100 job openings in western Germany and 225 in eastern Germany, the lowest level in 25 years. Openings in manufacturing rose 35 percent over the year-ago quarter, and in construction, they were up by a quarter. The building sector estimates it needs to add 35,000 workers in the current year, to a total of 3.3 million. Openings remain unfilled for more than 150 days, compared to 100 days on average for jobs in general. Caretaker openings are vacant for 171 days, well above the wait for IT workers.
