It’s hard to believe but the German automotive industry is reporting a lack of engineers. Both Porsche and BMW are looking to expand operations in Germany and fear a recent shortfall of upcoming graduate engineers may impair future production capacity.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the current batch of auto engineers in Germany is ageing and it’s coming time for Porsche and BMW to hire new staff. The only problem is, enrollment rates in engineering studies are at low new levels and technician-related employee demand is said to be at 77,000, a new all-time high.
This could be a particularly big problem for companies such as BMW, which is looking to put on 800 new employees at its Leipzig plant in Germany, and Porsche, which is planning to hire 1000 new staff at its production facilities just 17km away.
Results from a recent survey of 500 large companies, undertaken by the DIHK chamber of industry and commerce, showed that up to one third considered a shortage of engineers to be a considerable business risk. Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said in a recent interview,
“Until about two years ago we had hardly heard of companies in the region struggling to find skilled staff. But the scarcity of engineers appears to have become an issue now.”
With Porsche/Volkswagen Group, Daimler Mercedes and BMW all investing big dollars into future development and research of motor vehicles, the shortage could affect production of new technologies and thus hinder overall sales for the German car manufacturers. Outsourcing to international markets such as Asia is one option the companies may be forced to turn to.
