GERMANY's struggle to solve the problem of a shortage of millions of skilled workers could cost the country its place as one of the world's leading economies if the government does not take some steps soon, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said today.

“If we do not address the problem of the shortage of skilled labour now, it will become the main obstacle to growth in Germany,” Heil said at a conference in Berlin.

It is becoming more important every day “that all people who want to work start working, that they undergo training,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

“In the long term, this will be the decisive question of whether Germany will grow and whether prosperity in the country can be increased or maintained,” he added.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are unfilled

He added that hundreds of thousands of jobs are currently vacant. “You have to be blind not to see that there will be even more of this in the future,” the minister warned.

Labour Minister Habertus Heil cited a stable energy supply, accelerated planning, and securing a base of skilled labour as the most important steps to ensure that the German economy remains strong.

“Despite all the stories, we are actually a strong country, but we need some kind of breakthrough,” Heil said. When it comes to securing skilled labour, he added that Germany is “running out of time”.

1.6 million young people have no initial vocational training

By 2035, seven million skilled workers will retire, Heil said, citing a study by the Institute for Employment Research. He stressed that 1.6 million young people aged 20 to 29 have no initial vocational training.

Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger said that more than 45,000 people every year “leave school without any qualification”.

Young people who were at the conference complained about the lack of practical training in education and said that attending vocational schools is still considered inferior to studying at universities.

Source: index.hr