
Germany's healthcare sector is the most affected by the current acute shortage of skilled workers, a new study said.
About 47,400 job vacancies could not be filled with qualified applicants in 2023-2024, said research conducted by the Center for Competitiveness in the Employment of Skilled Workers of the German Institute for Economics.
The biggest shortage is for physiotherapists, with almost 1,600 vacancies. The shortage of dental assistants is 7,350 and 7,100 vacancies are for health care personnel and nurses.
"The aging population leads to increased demand for health care services. This increase is a burden for the current qualified workers", said the authors of the study.
Even in previous years, the health sector in Germany was the first in terms of the lack of qualified workers.
Meanwhile, across all industries from July 2023 to June 2024, there was an average shortage of over 530,000 skilled workers.
The second sector ranked with the greatest lack of workers is construction with around 42,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, 10,350 vacancies, the study said, were related to electrical installations.