Addressing the Skills Gap in Baden-Württemberg’s MINT Sector: Insights from Südwestmetall’s Stefan Küpper

Küpper: “The simultaneous lack of skills and personnel changes is not a paradox, but the result of continuous structural change. “

STUTTGART – The skills gap in the MINT sector (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology), which is important for the metal and electrical industry (M+E), remains high in Baden-Württemberg, even in the continuous time. economic weakness. According to the MINT spring report published this Tuesday by the German Economic Institute (IW), there were 181 vacancies per 100 unemployed people in the MINT department in Baden-Württemberg last month. “In the medium and long term, the need for MINT workers will increase significantly not only due to demographic developments but also due to the fundamental transformation of the economy under the sign of digitization and de- carbonization,” explained Stefan Küpper, Managing Director of Politics, Education and Labor Market at employers’ association Südwestmetall, on Tuesday in Stuttgart. “The lack of specialized MINT workers is already a serious obstacle to M+E’s industry transformation efforts .”

The gap in the autumn IW report (September 2023) was even slightly larger with 215 vacancies per 100 unemployed people. “The lack of skilled MINT workers remains at the top of the list of concerns for M+E companies,” said Küpper. “Because the qualifications of the population change only gradually despite the fundamental structural change in the economy, there is a shortage of skilled workers and changes in workers at the same time. This is not a paradox, but the result of ongoing structural change that has accelerated significantly since 2020. In order to close the skills gap, it is essential to provide the necessary qualifications to prospective employees.”