Engineering labor market 2021Full steam ahead back into the skills shortage?
The agonizingly long-lasting coronavirus pandemic has also caused the job market for engineers to freeze in many places, but it has not come to a complete standstill, as a survey of recruiters shows. Will there be a race to catch up?
Head of HR Tanja Friederichs from Puls is currently devoting a lot of time to a successful SAP introduction in the company, because here too, as always, Puls relies heavily on employee involvement. Does she anticipate a race to catch up in terms of staffing?
"At Puls, we only put positions on hold for a short time when we couldn't really assess the situation at the very beginning of the pandemic. However, as our customer orders are long-term, we were very confident that we would manage the situation well.
The positions that were put on hold were more related to projects, and it was questionable at the time whether we needed such extensive capacities here." In the end, everyone was reactivated and even additional new positions were approved and colleagues were hired, "as we even ended the year with an increase in turnover".
In order to recruit good employees, you need a sustainable strategy and have to constantly stay on the ball. "Even without corona, the use of digital opportunities is changing a lot. A fast response time, digital affinity and close contact with potential applicants are therefore essential.
Building and maintaining a pool of candidates to build trust is a key factor," she explains the need for a consistent strategy, because "in uncertain times, the motivation to change jobs decreases, and this is exactly where you should start. Innovative recruiting will therefore remain a top topic in 2021!"
Friederichs sees shortages of good employees with specialist knowledge both in the SAP area and for approval engineers. However, with an average filling time of four months after a position has been approved, the company is still well on track.