Unvollkommene Ausgleichsprozesse am Arbeitsmarkt

Abstract

"Potential skills shortages on the labour market are one of the main topics in the public focus in Germany after the financial crisis of the late 2000s. This paper is one of the results of a project funded by the German federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and contributes to the analyses of the demand for labour and shows, where staffing shortages can occur. It is based on two business surveys, the IAB Establishment Panel and the IAB Job Vacancy Survey.<br> First of all, a brief review of the theory of supply and demand on the labour market, as well as the latest findings in the discussion about skills shortages is presented. Against this background, the two surveys are introduced. In the main part of the paper we analyze the structure of the German enterprises as well as their demand for labour with regard to branch, firm size, and region (eastern and western Germany). We also describe in which parts of the labour market show first signs for staffing difficulties occur.<br> The main results show that especially the tertiary, i.e. the service sector has a very high demand for skilled labour. Labour demand still focuses on the medium qualifications level, while the demand for unskilled workers decreases more and more and the demand for high skilled personnel is increasing steadily. Small firms are more likely to be facing recruitment difficulties than larger firms. The causes for recruitment difficulties vary with the required level of qualification: while recruiting processes for low or unskilled workers are often difficult because of missing agreement about wages or working conditions, firms with a demand for high skilled workers more often complain about a lack of applicants or an insufficient qualification.<br> Overall, no general shortage of skilled labour which would affect every branch and region is recognizable in Germany at the moment. Against the background of an ageing and shrinking labour force the German establishments nevertheless are likely to having to deal with growing challenges regarding their labour demand in the next decades." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Dietz, M., Kettner, A., Kubis, A., Leber, U., Müller, A. & Stegmaier, J. (2012): Unvollkommene Ausgleichsprozesse am Arbeitsmarkt. Analysen zur Arbeitskräftenachfrage auf Basis des IAB-Betriebspanels und der IAB-Erhebung des Gesamtwirtschaftlichen Stellenangebots. (IAB-Forschungsbericht 08/2012), Nürnberg, 108 p.