Ernst & Young / Industry 4.0
Lack of skilled workers slows down digitalization
Hardly any company can avoid digital technology. SMEs in particular are not as good at driving forward the digitalization of their business. This is shown by a recent study of 2000 companies by Ernst & Young. One of the reasons: the shortage of skilled workers.
According to a study by consulting firm Ernst & Young, one in five companies cannot find enough staff and therefore does not invest enough or at all in the digitalization of its business. The lack of specialists is the most frequently cited reason, followed by a lack of in-house expertise and a lack of financial resources. Michael Marbler from Ernst & Young speaks of an "alarm signal" in this context. He believes that smaller companies in particular are in danger of falling into a downward spiral: They often lack the money to digitize production or sales, and they also find it even more difficult to find the specialists they need in an empty labour market. "If they lack the money and personnel, they have to become more creative in order to keep pace with developments," emphasizes Marbler, referring to collaborations with other companies or research institutions.
Around three quarters of all respondents see digitalization as a fundamental opportunity for them. However, the more growth-oriented the companies are, the greater the role that digital technology plays for them, according to the results. Furthermore, digitalization is a more important topic in large companies than in small ones.
According to the survey, differences can also be identified between sectors and individual regions in Germany. Digital technology plays a major role in the energy and water supply, transport and traffic and retail sectors, for example. The construction, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, on the other hand, are not yet as digitally positioned. In a comparison of federal states, Berlin leads by a clear margin: digitalization plays a very important role for 43% of the companies surveyed there. The figure for Thuringia, which came last, was only 8%.
Data basis
For the study, Ernst & Young commissioned the market research institute Valid Research to survey 2,000 companies across Germany with between 30 and 2,000 employees and a turnover of between EUR 20 million and EUR 1 billion. The survey period was November and December 2017.
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