Falling numbers of applicants pose a challenge for companies

Only one-fifth of companies have no problems recruiting staff

Around half of companies are facing a decline in the number of applicants – this was the finding of a survey conducted by SYNERGIE amongst its approximately 1,000 active client companies. When asked which HR-related issues were currently of particular concern to the participating companies, the three most common responses were the decline in applicant numbers (51%), unfilled vacancies in general (43%) and increased recruitment costs (42%) were cited as the three most common responses. Only one in five companies is not facing any of these three challenges. The labour and skilled worker shortages are therefore a pervasive issue within companies.

Particularly striking: a good 20 per cent of companies complain of unfilled vacancies within their own HR departments. „The survey confirms what we regularly hear in our discussions with companies,“ says SYNERGIE Managing Director Nicole Munk. „Hardly any company is spared the labour shortage. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, which are not so well known, are currently finding it very difficult to fill vacancies.“

Whether skilled workers or semi-skilled staff – there are recruitment problems in almost every sector

This shortage is evident across all sectors. Over 60 per cent of the companies surveyed stated that filling vacancies with technical specialists had been difficult over the past 12 months. At the same time, however, over a third of the companies even had problems finding unskilled staff. „Many of the companies we work with would hire significantly more staff if they had the right candidates,“ says Nicole Munk, describing the situation.

This highlights the dilemma that companies currently face: whilst recruitment is proving difficult, the issues of staff retention and loyalty have also come to the fore. „With Generation Y and now Generation Z entering the labour market, young people are arriving who want completely different working conditions and have different goals and expectations. Meeting these expectations as an employer during the recruitment process, whilst also retaining these employees in the long term, is a major challenge for many companies,“ says Nicole Munk.

Relocation abroad still met with hesitation

The Recruitment of foreign staff On the other hand, this does not seem – at least for the time being – to be a major issue: only 8 per cent of companies stated that they are currently addressing this in their HR departments. „As a service provider operating at over 30 locations, we work extensively with small and medium-sized enterprises in our regions,“ explains Nicole Munk. „These companies often find it difficult to recruit abroad, are put off by the effort involved and are wary of the responsibility that comes with employing foreign staff. In the medium term, however, this approach will be necessary as a measure to secure the labour and skilled workforce base in Germany.“ SYNERGIE had, as Europe’s fifth-largest HR specialistsurveyed its approximately 1,000 client companies across Germany on current topics in the autumn.

Do you need help recruiting new staff? We’d be happy to assist you in this area – simply get in touch with the SYNERGIE team near you on.