Adecco Germany explores talent booms, economic woes, and more

After ten years of economic recovery, there is talk of a recession in Germany. The German Institute for Economic Research expects the gross domestic product to decline by 0.2 percent in the third quarter. 

Experts from the Adecco Group, a global leader in HR service provisions, have analyzed 17.1 million job listings since the beginning of 2014 and explored the evolution of skill demand across multiple industries. The real estate and logistics sector have especially seen the demand for skilled labor increase steadily since 2014, and in 2019 (January to September), it reached the highest level in five years in both sectors.

The real estate industry is booming, and human resources are growing steadily

The real estate sector benefits from the current low interest rates and the strong demand for housing in the urban environment, and the industry is growing and with it the need for skilled workers. Compared to 2014, the number of jobs in the real estate and housing sector has increased by 141 percent in the last five years, marking a successful course. Around 42,800 jobs were advertised from January to September 2019. Together with the logistics sector, the real estate sector is the only sector with a steadily growing job market since 2014.

Logistics is the clear winner of the economy, and the demand for skilled workers in Germany is increasing

Overall, demand for skilled workers in Germany has increased by 37 percent since 2014. While there were 1.94 million job openings from January to September 2014, jobseekers and volunteers already have more than 2.66 million job openings to choose from today. The shortage of skilled workers is clearly noticeable in the job market.

The largest growth was visible in the logistics industry: with around 145,800 jobs in 2019, it has three times as many job offers as it did five years ago. In the areas of transportation and warehousing, the search for companies has even quintupled compared to 2014. Due to the low language barrier and a quick training, refugees in this sector have been especially successful in recent years.

In the public sector the demand for staff has been growing steadily since 2014 as well. With more than 102,000 vacancies from January to September 2019, demand has risen 124 percent over the past five years. IT professionals are among the most sought-after in times of digitization - the information services industry was looking for 139 percent more skilled workers in the first nine months of this year than in the same period in 2014.

Industry and commerce facing major challenges

By contrast, industry's supply in the overall market is stagnating. Apparel manufacturers are even seeing a 14 percent drop in job ads. In the automotive industry, the demand for skilled workers has also been developing at a below-average rate of 20 percent since 2014. The low growth in job offers in the automotive trade of only ten percent compared to 2014 indicates the stagnation of an otherwise economically strong industry.

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