Abstract

The study analyzes the current situation on the nursing labor market in Lower Saxony. The care sector and the central care professions are defined on the basis of data sources from the Federal Employment Agency according to economic and professional demarcations. Taking into account the development of the general need for care (demand side) as well as care facilities and care arrangements (supply side), an inventory of the current situation of employees in the care sector and in four of the most important care professions is first carried out. It then examines whether there are signs of a shortage of skilled workers in the care sector. To this end, various shortage indicators for the most important occupational groups in the care sector are evaluated. In addition, an analysis of unemployment and the wages of nursing staff is carried out. One reason for shortages of skilled workers and the associated shortage of labor supply can be seen in a possible low level of professional loyalty among employees in the nursing professions. For this reason, longitudinal studies are used to examine the retention in employment and in the profession for the nursing professions studied. Of particular interest here is the question of how many nurses and nurses for the elderly give up their work in Lower Saxony over time and move to another federal state.