Shortage of skilled workers and staff at system houses and co.

This article was first published at IT Business.

Last update 1 year ago by Patrick Ruppelt

It is interesting to observe how different the opinions expressed here on the shortage of skilled workers or personnel in general are presented in Germany. How far do we go with the definition of a skilled worker? That would actually be the first question to ask.

I basically agree that it is becoming less and less easy to find real skilled workers in Germany. In the past six months, we ourselves as the orceo Group have placed several advertisements, not only on our own website but also on the relevant portals such as moster.de, the job market of the Süddeutsche Zeitung or industry portals such as Gigajob. Both for us, but also on behalf of clients and cooperation partners. I can therefore allow myself a judgement.

Let's take the position of senior developer. Let's be clear from the start: We did not fill it with a German. In this case, it wasn't necessarily because of the salary requirements, which I'll come to below. Just find a young, highly motivated German who can be integrated into the corporate culture of a small medium-sized shop and who knows Ruby Rails, Mocha, flockDB and clojure as if it were his mother tongue. Not a chance. If we really want to describe a skilled worker as such, then our education system simply misses the point completely. In particular, the German higher education system, which I think is forgotten in every discussion, never had the claim to train "ready-made" professionals. It offers a very solid basis for developing into a skilled worker. And on that point I have to absolutely disagree with the previous speakers like Carsten and the numerous non-registered users. It is not the task of companies or any authorities to develop these skilled workers. That is the responsibility of the employee, of everyone himself, who also expects the corresponding salary.

Now it is the case that there are numerous incentives, especially for young employees, to enter professional life with a low basic salary and to continuously improve this, this applies equally to the likewise mentioned lateral entrants. Here, employers offer enough training and certification measures. Our technicians, for example, receive 100% funding for all courses that represent an equivalent value for the company, be it a Microsoft MCSE or a Siemens SOCA. And even the German Armed Forces still finance the complete Cisco CCNA for their technical employees, so I don't accept the arguments that "as an employee you can't do anything about it" and the blame on the employment agencies.

One of our colleagues said that the companies were asking too much. I'll take a real example that I got on the table a fortnight ago: for the position of "Head of Operational IT Europe" advertised by us for a partner. In this context, some terms were mentioned that are absolutely necessary for the position, because the company has these basic technologies in productive use and the new employee will be completely responsible for them: profound experience and knowledge in Citrix/TS, strong skills and experience in multi-project management, Microsoft MCSE desirable, strong leadership personality and social competence. Of course, it sounds like the perfect fit, but these are the requirements for the job. This is not, as written in a previous article, about qualifications that are only of interest to HR departments, no quite the opposite. Despite the requirements formulated in this way, we receive applications every day from a master mechanic who - in his event horizon - is a server administrator because he once built a Windows 2000 server and is still responsible for no less than 10 computers. And? Somehow you have to classify as a personnel manager...

I would like to answer Harry Jacob's question about whether the qualifications required do not match the remuneration offered, specifically for companies in the small to medium-sized sector. In a corporate mindset, I think this can be answered quite pragmatically with a small example: If Microsoft advertises a job and offers an amount, then Microsoft will probably pay a reasonable salary for it. Supply and demand... the question is then again whether a German citizen will be employed, but be that as it may, we have already established a few things about this above.

In the middle class, where we are, the whole thing looks a bit different. One of the previous speakers mentioned a gross salary of € 1900 for an admin and software developer in one person. Things may be a little different here in Munich, but that figure is out of the air. This idea may be reflected in a career changer as a desktop support worker without training, but certainly not in an admin. He should then think about whether he would rather work a good hour a day on account, because he earns more. Interesting theory, you think? Well, I also ask myself, in the same way as one of the previous speakers, who believes that without something special, without that certain something, you can earn €100,000 a year as a technical specialist. Here, too, I wonder if a certain loss of reality has taken place. That costs a company, let's say, about €80 net per hour, with cars and pensions factored in. At what hourly rate is a company supposed to bring such values to the customer in a way that covers costs, if overhead costs and "overhead" such as illness, oversleeping and holidays are added? When I look at the relevant salary tables, I sometimes ask myself how €4,000 plus a car and more can be earned by a simple service technician - don't get me wrong.

Honestly, with a healthy middle ground, both employees and employers can be found. The question is simply how both sides line up.

Based on this thought, I do not want to leave another consideration unsaid, which is particularly widespread in small and medium-sized businesses. I notice this time and again, whether in discussions with customers or through other contacts. The background is again the question of expectations on both sides. For the purposes of this thought experiment, let's really look at the specialist as an egg-sucking lizard: isn't it the case that especially in the smaller companies, the hierarchies are so flat, the corporate structures are not very developed and the corporate culture is massively unstable, so that they actually need precisely those people to whom you don't have to explain everything from "0" onwards?

If you ask me, much of the prevailing opinion in our country on this subject is actually buried here, quite literally. If a company is not able to provide a new employee with structure and a feeling for work processes, it is just as hopeless for both sides as if the new employee has no idea about the basic things.

Let's get to the point: Hardly any employer has such a good idea of what "the new person" should do and how, but expects that he or she will be able to do it. And on the other hand - let's be honest - at least half of the applicants can't write three sentences on a piece of paper without grammatical and/or spelling mistakes, and in Germany we don't even have to talk about profitability, ambition out of their own drive and living in the spirit of the company. But precisely these applicants are often self-proclaimed specialists. And this is exactly where the problem lies in my eyes. Or is there perhaps a third possibility? The one where everything really fits? Some applicants should take a good look at themselves and consider whether the law of the open market economy might actually apply. That brings us back to supply and demand. If the applicant is really too expensive and the potential employer cannot pay him, then there is no job. But are we talking about a shortage of skilled workers here: no, definitely not. Are we talking about a lack of skilled workers? More like it.

Six-figure annual salaries and training by "the authorities" are not enough to fill jobs more quickly. It would be better to start with parental education. Unfortunately, this discussion is going too far here, but dear colleagues and readers who are perhaps over 30, 40, .... Ask yourself the following question: When did you last visit your own grammar school and take a look at what young people are like today? This is going to get much worse...

Or did our parents perhaps say the same thing 20 years ago?

I would like to say a final word about the "bosses-in-chief": It may be that a lot of money is earned here. But there must be a reason for it, just think of the responsibility these people bear (perhaps your salary, dear reader, would not exist otherwise?). I am not one of them and it is not my intention to sacrifice my whole life for a company that does not even belong to me. But there must also be such people, and the rules of the market economy also apply there.