The shortage of skilled workers in Germany reached record levels in the first quarter of this year, despite the strains on the economy caused by the Corona pandemic and the Ukraine war.

In March, the number of vacancies for which there were no suitably qualified unemployed people nationwide rose to a new high of just over 558,000, the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Labor (Kofa) of the employer-affiliated Institute of the German Economy (IW) reported on Saturday. This means that the skills gap has widened by a further 88,000 vacancies within just three months.

According to the study, the growing shortage of skilled workers is affecting the entire labor market. However, the bottlenecks are particularly pronounced in the areas of health, social services, teaching and education, as well as construction, architecture, surveying and building technology. According to the study, in the area of health, social services, teaching and education alone, a good six out of ten positions could not be filled with suitably qualified unemployed persons in March.

According to the study, the shortage of skilled workers is also above average in the sectors of raw materials extraction, production and manufacturing, natural sciences, geography and information technology, as well as agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, and horticulture. The number of vacancies for qualified applicants in aviation and energy technology professions has also increased sharply recently.