In the traditional TecPart survey of plastics processors at the beginning of the year, a new high of 88.2% was recorded in response to the question of whether there is a shortage of skilled workers in the company. According to the survey, there is the greatest shortage of plastics technicians and process mechanics, followed by trainees in this field and finally plastics engineers. The plastics technologist training occupation has lost around 43% of young people undergoing training in the last eight years and currently still has more leavers than newly concluded training contracts.
The situation at universities is not really any better. Based on the survey of German technical colleges, universities and universities of applied sciences conducted in February 2024, only one technical college reported rising student numbers for the winter semester 2021/2022, while all others had declines of up to 50 percent.
For the winter semester 2022/23, three educational institutions then reported increases, whereas the majority again recorded declines. And for the current winter semester 2023/24, all but one university reported fewer students, on average around 35% fewer than in the previous year, with the peak value being a decline of 67%.
TecPart Managing Director Michael Weigelt considers the findings of the study to be very explosive and worrying, as there will be even fewer well-trained young people for the economy in the future, who will also not be able to meet the growing demand caused by the age-related retirement of the baby boomers: “Universities will have to fight even harder for equipment and staff. Technological progress and the desired transformation towards a circular economy will be slowed down as the necessary staff will not be available in the required numbers,” warns Weigelt.