Around 1.03 million people were employed in mechanical and plant engineering, the largest industrial employer in Germany, at the end of 2023. Despite the economic downturn, 13,600 jobs (up 1.3 percent) were created in this key sector over the course of the year. However, the increase in employment could have been stronger. At the beginning of 2023, the majority of companies were still planning to increase their core workforce by the end of the year.
This was hardly surprising at the time, as the supply chain bottlenecks had been significantly reduced and the high order backlog needed to be processed. However, the employees urgently needed for this could not be found in many places due to the persistent labor shortage.
"In January 2023, 45 per cent of companies in the mechanical engineering sector were hampered by a shortage of skilled workers . Never before in reunified Germany has the shortage of skilled workers been so severe. However, it wasn't just skilled workers who were in short supply, but the workforce as a whole," says VDMA economic expert Olaf Wortmann.
As the year progressed, the economic slump was increasingly reflected in the labor market. The number of vacancies registered with the Federal Employment Agency – still more than 14,000 in April – fell steadily and stood at around 12,000 at the end of the year. Since late summer, the ifo Employment Barometer has shown that more companies in the mechanical engineering sector want to reduce their workforce than increase it. The VDMA flash surveys also show that member companies have reduced their hiring intentions.
