Germany’s Labour Shortage: Where Have the Millions of Workers Gone?

Germany’s labour shortage is exposing the limits of “Aufstieg durch Bildung” — and breaking the country’s economic model.

Photo by lasse bergqvist on Unsplash

When Germany emerged from the pandemic, it found itself facing a puzzle that still hasn’t been solved: millions of workers appear to be missing. Across the country, restaurants struggle to find staff, airports grind to a halt for lack of ground crews, and businesses from manufacturing to care work report chronic labour shortages — even though unemployment remains low.

Germany is not alone in this, but the problem is especially acute here. Official figures show around 1.7 million unfilled jobs, a record high, driven by retiring baby boomers, years of underinvestment in vocational training, and a system that long preached Aufstieg durch Bildung — advancement through academic education — while neglecting the trades and mid-skill professions that actually keep the economy running.

Whether it be the US, the UK or Germany, major economies are blighted by a phenomenon that has been called “the great resignation.” Restaurants and hotels put signs in their windows in vain hope of finding staff; People travelling through airports now find themselves on a deeper level of Dante’s hell due to a lack of staff.

In truth, this phenomenon still seems poorly understood. Workers have disappeared, but unemployment hasn’t gone up. They’ve gone somewhere else. But where?

This phenomenon comes on top of shortages of skilled labour that had been plaguing Germany for years but which are becoming ever more acute due to the fact that baby boomers are retiring and there aren’t enough young people to take their places.

Add to that the fact that young people have been told that university is the path to success and you have a massive imbalance in the job market. An oversupply of literature graduates is depressing wages in the professional sector while manufacturers and tradespeople can’t find staff for love nor money.