Companies sound the alarm. Persistently high costs for energy and raw materials endanger the country’s economic power, despite state aid. And not only that – warn chambers of industry and commerce.
Halle/Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – The economy in Saxony-Anhalt is pushing for more immigration of skilled workers. By 2040, one in four employees in the country will retire. That’s around 167,000 people, as announced by the Halle-Dessau Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) and the Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce on Friday. The background is forecasts by labor market experts. The economy cannot fill the gap in qualified employees on its own.
Better political framework conditions with less bureaucracy are needed. “Our companies urgently need junior staff,” emphasized a spokesman for the IHK Magdeburg. The chambers suggested setting up an authority for the immigration of skilled workers, one each for the north and south of the country. So far there are 14 competent authorities in the country. Companies would thus have a single point of contact on site. According to their own statements, the IHK Magdeburg and the IHK Halle represent the interests of around 110,000 companies in Saxony-Anhalt.
The economy has left the economic low point in the autumn of last year behind it. “Nevertheless, almost half of the domestic companies started the new year pessimistically,” said Steffen Keitel, President of the IHK Halle-Dessau. According to the current economic survey, which was prepared together with the IHK Magdeburg, 42 percent of the representative surveyed (600) companies in the state expect their business to deteriorate in the coming months. 83 percent of the companies see the energy and raw material costs as an economic risk.
According to the chambers, only a good six percent expect a change for the better overall. The hospitality industry is particularly worried about the future. Here, 61 percent of the companies said business was developing less favorably. This was also stated by every second company surveyed in the construction industry (54 percent) and in retail (51 percent). The most important economic policy task is to eliminate the energy shortage, said IHK President Keitel.
Electricity and gas price brakes did not combat the bottleneck, but only alleviated the consequences in the short term. Together with the President of the IHK Magdeburg, Klaus Olbricht, Keitel called for a “far-sighted energy policy” to ensure the competitiveness of the economy above all through a “sustainable energy mix”. This includes the accelerated expansion of renewable energies.