The labor shortage that is hitting the US as the nation rebounds from the pandemic is also coming to Europe, where it could prove even more difficult to fix, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.
“In Europe, the problems are more structural,” said Axel Pluennecke, an economist at the German Economic Institute in Cologne. “Especially in the technical professions, areas like digitization, decarbonization, there will be big demand for qualified workers. You really have to wonder whether this demand will be met.”
Like the US, where April’s payroll growth fell far short of expectations, Europe will struggle to match workers with jobs. That’s despite unemployment at more than 7 percent in the European Union - and more than twice as high in Greece and Spain - which isn’t predicted to return to pre-crisis levels before 2023.
The region is already feeling some of the impact of the border closures imposed during the pandemic. Net migration to Germany, Europe’s largest economy, fell by about a third in 2020.
Swedish battery-cell manufacturer Northvolt AB needs 3,000 workers for a factory under construction in Skelleftea, and its chief executive - former Tesla Inc. executive Peter Carlsson - has repeatedly highlighted access to expertise as a key challenge.
Some economies might benefit if the crisis stops their best workers leaving. Poland, Romania and Italy -- the main countries of origin for skilled EU migrants in 2019 - are also among the biggest beneficiaries of the bloc’s recovery fund. They’ll see their demand for specialized jobs rise.