Dr. Sandra Zimmermann

Head of Scientific Dialogue

Dear readers,

As the job market rapidly changes, data insights can help companies and organizations secure their workforce needs. WifOR has dived deeper into the supply and demand of workers and the skilled labor requirements in various industries to map what the future of work could look like. With our research-driven solutions, businesses can take action and target the talent and skills needed to ensure their sustainable growth.  

Best wishes,

The new Skilled Labor Monitor (SLM)

Why is the workforce shrinking? In this in-depth article about demographic change, we addressed the topic of labor market shortages. But besides understanding the phenomenon, we also need tools that quantify it and help design countermeasures.

For this reason, the Skilled Labor Monitor for Upper Austria was launched with a new data basis. The prognosis tool allows for the analysis and prediction of skilled labor shortages up to 2040. The current model forecasts a shortage of 83.500 skilled workers in the Austrian region by the beginning of the next decade.

With the SLM, additional scenarios – such as a later retirement age and higher immigration – can be visualized. This way, companies and policymakers can easily access key knowledge to tackle workforce deficits.

Industries in focus: meeting the needs of tomorrow with the workers of today  

Besides calculating labor shortages with solutions like the SLM, it is crucial to identify the needs of evolving industries. Such is the case of the mobility sector and the residential building transformation in Germany.

To determine which abilities will be on demand in mobility, WifOR lead a quantitative analysis of around 500.000 job ads using Big Data from which skills profiles were extracted. The findings show that, while specialist knowledge in machinery, motor vehicles and metal work will remain essential, the relevance of interdisciplinary skills is increasing, including personal attitudes and values such as accuracy and service orientation.

Meanwhile, as German government programs are promoting the renovation of residential buildings to achieve net-zero targets, workforce deficits pose a considerable obstacle. Three programs analyzed in 2023 represent a demand for over 50,000 additional skilled workers, some of whom belong to professions already experiencing shortages. 

For more in-depth insights, download: 

• "Transformation of the mobility sector" (in German) commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
• "Transformation of the construction and real estate sector" (in German) commissioned by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
• "Skilled labor requirements for the socio-ecological transformation in the residential building sector" (in German) commissioned by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung

The FRAX index on the labor market reached its lowest level since 2016