Shortage of skilled workers: When there are no employees on the set

In relation to the overall economy in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, the media, creative and digital industries are doing excellently. 6,200 days of filming on which new television and streaming series were produced here last year is a new impressive record.

Although the Ukraine war, energy crisis and inflation are also depressing the mood in these sectors of the economy, the situation is generally assessed positively, according to the “media.barometer” presented on Wednesday by the Medianet Berlin-Brandenburg network association. 272 companies took part in the survey, which was held for the 20th time.

In fact, the positive situation is exacerbating a problem that the German economy as a whole is struggling with: the shortage of skilled workers. In the baby boomer year of 1964, 1.5 million children were born in Germany. In 2009, on the other hand, only 736,000 children were born, who will be able to fill the gaps in the next few years, calculates Medianet boss Jeannine Koch as an example.

The need for skilled workers in the media, creative and digital industries in Berlin and Brandenburg is correspondingly high. 80 percent of companies state that they have problems finding suitable employees. “In the film industry, people are desperately looking for employees on the set – in all positions,” Koch cites a specific example.

What the economy itself should do

Koch sees the need for the economy itself to train the staff of tomorrow or to inspire them via lateral entry programs. “With its UFA Academy, UFA in Potsdam offers lateral entry within two years. The Erich Pommer Institute also offers various programs for further training in the media sector,” she emphasizes. “If more such programs catch on, if educational institutions and universities adapt their programs to the new job profiles more quickly and if politicians work on existing hurdles, then this challenge can be mastered in the long term,” she hopes.

In 2022, significantly more companies in the media, creative and digital industries hired employees (43 percent) than laid off staff. More than half of the companies want to increase the number of employees in 2023. The job market is getting tighter, especially for creative staff, and the need is particularly high in the middle job level.

This also affects the employment of employees without German citizenship. Three quarters of the companies have foreign employees, mostly from EU countries. Every fifth company employs refugees, mainly from Ukraine, Syria, Iran or Belarus.

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Source: Tagesspiegel

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