Skills shortage: three out of four companies train employees for Industry 4.0
According to Bitkom, German companies need more skilled workers due to Industry 4.0. That's why they're training their employees and want to lay off competitors.
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Around three quarters of German industrial companies invest in training their employees in the use of networked production machines and processes. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the digital association Bitkom. In addition to their training measures for Industry 4.0, more than four out of ten companies rely on redundancies from competitors to cover their shortage of skilled workers. According to Nick Kriegskotte from the Bitkom association, Industry 4.0 can also support employees with low qualifications in demanding tasks, for example through the use of digital assistance systems.
The industry needs more qualified specialists
Nevertheless, 68% of German industrial companies expect a reduction in the number of low-skilled employees. At the same time, the same proportion expects the number of jobs for qualified specialists to increase in the future as Industry 4.0 becomes more widespread. Kriegskotte explains that extensive qualifications are required to understand the interaction of IT and data analysis with manufacturing processes. Nevertheless, the technology can perform simple tasks automatically so that even low-skilled workers can take on more complex tasks.
In addition, automatic technologies in production are less prone to errors due to the analysis of real-time data. 57% of the companies surveyed are convinced of this. According to the Bitkom figures, around 32% of German industry believes that Industry 4.0 can alleviate the challenges posed by the shortage of skilled workers. However, a similarly large proportion of 34% expect job cuts in the coming months due to the current economic situation. Around 44% of industrial companies want to take advantage of this and hire redundant employees from other companies to cover their needs.
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German companies: AI use determines competitiveness
For the Bitkom study, the authors surveyed 552 German industrial companies with more than 100 employees. According to another survey by the industry association, around 80 percent of German industry sees the use of AI as a decisive factor for international competitiveness. Almost half of the companies believe that Germany is missing out on the AI transformation. In an international comparison, German companies consider the Chinese economy to be the leader in Industry 4.0 and the majority favor legal clarity and against overregulation.
(sfe)
