This shortage of qualified workers is reflected in a very high number of job vacancies and a continuous decline in the number of employeed people. According to Eurostat, 2.3% of all positions in the entire European Union were vacant in the fourth quarter of 2024. In Germany 3.2%, in Austria 3.6%, and in Switzerland 1.6% of all positions were vacant. At the same time, only around 214 milllion people were employeed accross the entire European Union in the fourth quarter of 2024, which represents a decline of 600,000 people employeed within one quarter.
There are many different reasons for the massive shortage of qualified workers. For example, life expectancy is increasing whereas the birth rates are declining. This is leading to an aging society and an imbalance between the working population and the retired population. Furthermore, in the coming years, a large number of workers will retire („baby-boomer-generation“) and cannot be replaced in the European labour market alone. Due to the rapid increase of digitalization and the advancement of artificial intelligence, the qualification requirements for the work force are significantly rising as well. Since educational policy of governements has not adequately addressed this development, many potential workers have qualification deficits, which further increases the shortage of qualified workers.
Because of this increasing shortage of qualified workers, Europe has been trying to recruit qualified workers from non-European countries (third countries) and to attract them to the European labour market for many years. However, this approach is connected with many problems such as insufficient language skills, significant differences in the education quality, cultural differences, and complicated as well as time-consuming recognition procedures with respect to professional qualification and professional experience of the foreign workers. In addition, there are different legal regulations in almost all European countries.
The massive shortage of qualified workers gets even intensified by the fact that, in addition to the European countries, also all western respectively western oriented countries such as the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand have a great demand for qualified workers. Therefore, recruitment of qualified workers from these countries is almost impossible. In addition, many Arab and Asian countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have a great demand for qualified workers as well. Consequently, an almost constant supply of qualified workers meets a massively increasing global demand for qualified workers, which leads to an intense global competition for qualified workers. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland qualfied workers from third countries face an additional challenge. They must prove a certain level of German language skills to be accepted at all. This makes the recruitment of quaified workers even more difficult, cost-intense, and time-consuming.
Life Concepts & Generations
Non-profit Educational Association Switzerland
CHE-173.644.145; Phone: +41 (0) 44 5165220