Are there currently problems finding employees?

Question

Especially in craft businesses and when they are influenced by this

dieluka · Answer

Certain areas certainly have problems.

A possible reason could be that there are too few suitable candidates.

Too few suitable candidates can result from:

insufficiently trained for the job in the region.
Employees do not know that the employer is looking for someone (unknown employer or unknown that they can work in the area)
Employees do not want to work for the employer (bad reputation, prejudices, etc.)
Applicants do not fit (grades, language skills, personality,…)

It could happen that one employer receives 100 applications, while another one down the street only receives five. The one with five might get three unskilled candidates, one with a drunken breath, and one with a reference that basically says "we're glad to get rid of him." In that case, the employer with 100 applications probably won't have a problem, but the one with five will. They then have to decide whether to continue looking or hire one of the five who are less than or not at all suitable.

sashamu66 · Answer

I've been working for a civil engineering company for almost 40 years. Our reputation is good. There's no boss skimming profits. The money stays in the company, whose primary purpose is to enable us to live off our work. We don't have a minimum wage; everyone is paid according to a collective agreement based on their skills and work. The skilled worker's wage is around €21 and up.

Previously, we had two apprentices per training year, a constant six. With a workforce of 60 people, that was still 10% of the workforce. Of course, we hire the apprentices after their final exams. These employees typically stayed with us for decades.

Today, we're lucky if anyone even applies. We also offer internships, but hardly anyone is interested. If they do, two-thirds of applicants realize after a few days that construction involves a lot of work. Working from home isn't an option.

Added to this is the negative image that is being spread. When the media discusses minimum wage and illegal work, the image that usually comes to mind is that of a construction site.

Teachers apparently believe that you don't need to be able to read or do math to work in construction. Unfortunately, they're completely wrong. Today's secondary school diplomas are often no longer worth the paper they're written on.

Added to this are the debates about raising the retirement age. Other solutions must be found for people who do physically hard work.

We're currently receiving a lot of requests for repairs to sewer connections. Owners are required to have them inspected and, if necessary, repaired. We're turning them down because we don't have the staff. We're focusing our efforts on larger, more profitable construction projects. As a result, more and more homeowners are finding it difficult to meet the authorities' requirements. Ultimately, though, that's not our problem… we'll see where this leads. Outhouses?