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Lack of childcare not only puts a strain on parents, but also on Hessian companies. Flexible working and rest times can help.
Wiesbaden – Daycare opening hours that are too short, too few crèche or after-school care places, sudden absences from childcare because there are not enough teachers: what causes stress for parents is also a concern for Hessian companies and businesses. Because fathers and mothers are (also) needed in the workplace – especially because staff are in short supply almost everywhere.
“In view of the increasing shortage of skilled workers and labor, increasing the number of women in employment is an important building block for alleviating the shortage,” says Kirsten Schoder-Steinmüller, President of the Hessian Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce. If part-time women in Germany increased their working hours by an average of one hour per week, this would correspond to around 240,000 additional full-time jobs, she calculates, according to the DIHK skilled worker report.
Some companies in Hesse offer their own childcare
Schoder-Steinmüller is certain that many female employees would be happy to work more or full-time if childcare options and thus the compatibility of family and work were better. Because the state offers are often insufficient, some companies try to help themselves. But it is not that easy. She had already looked into setting up her own childcare offer in her own company years ago. “Since most of the working parents preferred childcare close to home, we did not pursue these plans any further.”
Jonas Fidler, Managing Director of the Association of Hessian Business Associations (VhU), knows that it is difficult for smaller companies and many craft businesses to manage such offers anyway. Therefore, it is more likely that the larger companies can offer their own daycare places, have parent-child rooms or operate with generous and flexible home office regulations.
A significantly higher level of childcare security is therefore crucial. Fidler welcomes the fact that the catalogue of skilled workers has been opened up in Hesse, which has increased the potential of possible workers in daycare centers. He also sees the expansion of the so-called practice-integrated paid training (PIVA) as positive. However, he fears that the legal right to a daycare place, which will apply to primary school-age children from August 2026, could make the shortage of staff even worse – if skilled workers move from daycare centers to schools.
More flexibility in working time regulations needed in Hesse
More flexibility in working time arrangements is therefore needed. Parents should be allowed to work longer than ten hours a day, for example, to make it easier to compensate for reduced working hours due to childcare. Fidler believes that guidelines on weekly working hours are better than regulations for individual days. For the same reason, it should be possible to shorten rest periods.
Hesse wants to solve the shortage of skilled workers with paid training, among other things. Arnold © Andreas Arnold
In general, it has become more important for companies to present themselves as family-friendly employers. Demand for certification according to the “Work and Family” audit has also increased. “The pressure on companies in this regard is increasing,” says the VhU managing director.
The Hessian Chamber of Industry and Commerce can also give examples of this. For example, Sifar GmbH in the Fulda Chamber district even has its own Bobby Car race track for the children of employees, reports press spokeswoman Julia König. And in Heppenheim in the Darmstadt Chamber district, Infecto-Pharm runs its own daycare center. And has been doing so for 15 years. The company has just celebrated its anniversary.
Small and medium-sized businesses in the craft sector are often family-friendly employers
The trades have always been family-oriented, according to the local umbrella organization. After all, more than three quarters of all companies are family businesses, run by a married couple and often employing their own children. This is why small and medium-sized trades companies are often family-friendly employers, without making this a priority.
Although they do not have special facilities such as a company kindergarten, as is the case in some large companies, the advantage is that, due to the small size of the company, they can respond to the individual needs of their employees. They would also like to see more flexible working time arrangements.
But the skilled trades sector also needs to be aware that the still inadequate provision of state-run childcare must be further expanded.
