A survey conducted on behalf of the consulting firm EY among senior managers from 115 German industrial companies shows that 45 percent of companies want to open new plants abroad. Only 13 percent plan to open new branches in Germany.
This will probably involve moving jobs abroad, which is also clear from the study “Germany as a business investment location” presented on November 1.
Germany and the Great Escape
29 percent of companies surveyed in September said they were likely to move jobs from Germany to other countries. Only four percent of companies said they wanted to move overseas jobs back to Germany.
A highly disturbing phenomenon is that 84 percent of survey participants assessed the current economic situation in Germany negatively. For 70 percent of them, bureaucratic requirements are one of the three most important obstacles to economic recovery.
– Too often, this leads to companies moving to where they can get help quickly and without bureaucracy: abroad – explained EY expert Jan Brorhilker. – We urgently need a new, friendly culture for industrial companies – he added.
“Qualifications are becoming less available”
German companies consider the shortage of skilled labor in the country to be a major obstacle to their growth. This was the opinion of 57 percent of respondents taking part in the study.
– This is by no means a case of workers in Germany not being motivated and willing to work, said Jan Brorhilker.
– The problem is rather that the qualifications that companies are looking for are becoming less and less available.
Interestingly, the study found that issues such as motivation and sick leave are only cited as obstacles by a small number of companies.
(AFP/like)
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle.