Is There a Shortage of Skilled Workers in the German Pharmaceutical Industry?

Firstly, the pharmaceutical industry employs an above-average proportion of skilled workers. Further, pharmaceutical companies’ employees in the „mechanical and industrial engineering“ and „technical production planning and control“ professions are more likely to be in hard-to-fill positions than their colleagues not only in their own workforce but also in manufacturing as a whole. As a result, the pharmaceutical sector is also competing with other branches of industry in these strategically sensitive areas. However, there are not only shortages among highly qualified staff. Although there are bottlenecks only in selected skilled trades, these tend to be in fields that are critical for the pharmaceutical industry, such as „chemistry“. In view of the high employment share of this occupational group, the scarcity of skilled workers identified here affects pharmaceutical companies more than the industrial sector as a whole. This shows that shortages are also emerging among the medium-skilled.