The shortage of skilled workers is now also causing increasing problems in retail. Overall, the industry lacked an average of more than 37,000 suitably qualified specialists between July 2021 and June 2022, according to a study by the competence center for securing skilled workers (Kofa) of the employer-related Institute of German Economics (IW). “This represents an all-time high in the retail skills gap,” the experts reported.
According to the study, almost a third of the vacancies in retail could not have been filled with suitably qualified specialists. The most difficult thing is to find specialists in ophthalmic optics and in the sale of meat products.
One reason for this: In the past ten years fewer and fewer new training contracts have been concluded in retail trades. Since 2021, the number of vacant training positions has exceeded that of unplaced applicants. “This turning point endangers the long-term supply of skilled workers in retail and suggests that the shortage of skilled workers in retail trades will continue to worsen in the future,” predicted the authors of the study.
