Despite all the prophecies of doom, the job market in North Rhine-Westphalia is looking relatively good. This is also due to the fact that many companies want to retain their skilled workers even when there are sluggish orders or cost problems. How are things going in the coming year?
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - Despite the looming recession, North Rhine-Westphalia's employment agencies do not assume that unemployment will rise sharply in the coming year. One expects "a largely stable labor market and stable employment," said the regional head of the Federal Employment Agency, Torsten Withake, on Monday. "However, securing skilled workers is increasingly becoming a challenge for companies." The consequences of demographic development are becoming more noticeable, and digitization also plays a role, as the demands on the qualifications of skilled workers are increasing.
According to the information, 668,000 people were registered as unemployed in NRW in the year to date, 56,500 fewer than in 2021. In November, the unemployment rate was 6.9 percent.
The chairwoman of the German trade union federation in North Rhine-Westphalia, Anja Weber, described the lack of skilled workers as the "Achilles' heel" of the labor market. "In addition to better conditions for the immigration of skilled workers from abroad, we urgently need to increase our domestic potential," she said, pointing out the problem that one in five young people in NRW does not have a vocational qualification and is therefore not available for the labor market as a skilled worker. "We finally need a pay-as-you-go training guarantee so that every young person who is looking for a training position gets one."
Against the background of the energy crisis, the head of the state association of business associations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Arndt Kirchhoff, spoke of a difficult situation for the companies. It is all the more remarkable that the labor market is proving to be robust. In order for this to remain stable, he warned of "reliable perspectives". For example, relief in energy prices is important for this.
He rated the shortage of skilled workers as a brake on the companies. Politicians should improve the framework conditions for securing skilled workers. Both securing domestic skilled workers and "qualified immigration" from abroad are important.
