2023-05-11 20:55:56
Ob Hospitals, homes for the elderly or outpatient services: there is already an enormous shortage of skilled workers in the care sector. So it’s not good news that the growth in employment in care after many years of significant increases is noticeably losing momentum, as the Federal Employment Agency announced on the occasion of International Care Day this Friday. According to a new report on the situation in nursing, the increase has been weaker than the average for all professions since January 2022.
In the past five years, the number of employees in care subject to social security contributions has increased by 11 percent or 166,000 – to almost 1.7 million. According to the Federal Agency, total employment subject to social security contributions increased by only 7 percent over the same period. Most recently, however, employment in care subject to social security contributions increased by just over 1 percent compared to the previous year – and employment in total by almost 2 percent.
“Very threatening development”
A few other indicators also show how tense the situation is. For every 100 registered jobs for nursing staff, there are now only 33 unemployed. According to the assessment of the Federal Employment Agency, an easing of the situation is not foreseeable due to the demographic development. The Federal Statistical Office recently forecast that the number of people in need of care in Germany will increase by more than a third by 2055: from around 5 million today to 6.8 million. According to the Federal Office, the majority – five out of six people in need of care – are cared for at home, almost 800,000 live in a nursing home.
Trade union and industry representatives called on the federal government to take action on Thursday. “Fewer staff and more people who depend on care – this very threatening development must be stopped by all means,” warned Sylvia Bühler, member of the Verdi national board. Christine Vogler, President of the German Nursing Council, made a similar statement. The federal government must implement the coalition agreement, she demanded. Instead of – as promised there – improving the working conditions in nursing quickly and noticeably, many areas are aimless and piecemeal, Vogler complained.
Like them, many industry representatives consider Lauterbach’s current care reform, which includes increases in contributions and some improvements in benefits, to be inadequate. This became clear on Wednesday at a hearing in the Bundestag Health Committee. A frequently mentioned point of criticism was that the necessary changes were again not being tackled.
“The federal government is starting to paint the facade, while the entire care building is shaking,” said the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services. The statutory health insurance companies warned against overburdening the insured. Lauterbach would only burden the contributors with new burdens, criticized the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds. However, care is a task for society as a whole. The draft offers “no solution for a sustainable and viable stabilization of care”.
With a view to the shortage of skilled workers, the Federal Employment Agency sees several possible solutions. Almost half of the nursing staff work part-time – an above-average figure. So there is still potential here. In addition, the further training of unemployed nursing assistants could help to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers.
Among unskilled workers, the number of unemployed clearly outweighs the number of registered jobs. And finally, more skilled workers would have to be recruited from abroad. A lot has happened here: The proportion of foreign nursing staff has almost doubled in the past five years, mainly due to immigration from third countries – to 14 percent.
#Employment #growth #nursing #slows