It Takes Companies in Germany an Average of Four Months to Find Skilled Workers

German companies spend an average of three to four months looking for skilled workers. That is how long it takes 37.5 percent of personnel managers surveyed to get from advertising a post to signing a contract, according to an ifo survey conducted in collaboration with job platform Indeed and review site Glassdoor. It took 25.1 percent of respondents just one or two months to fill a vacancy with a skilled worker; among medium-sized companies, as many as 37.4 percent filled such posts in this time. And 17.2 percent of small businesses are successful in under four weeks. “Companies can really cut the time it takes if they position themselves as an employer that is mindful of diversity in the workforce,” says Julia Freuding from the ifo Institute’s Fürth Branch.

The primary way in which companies seek to appeal to more diverse candidates is by formulating their job advertisements accordingly (65.4 percent); this also includes targeting specific groups of applicants (30.7 percent). Companies that say they pay attention to diversity when hiring new employees fill their vacancies much faster: 47.8 percent within two months, including 17.7 percent within four weeks. Of the companies that do not consider diversity when filling vacancies, only 32.2 percent fill their posts within two months. “Workforce diversity is increasingly serving as a way for companies to address the shortage of skilled workers,” Freuding says.

The workforce at the majority of the companies surveyed has become more diverse in recent years, and companies’ experience with this has been largely positive. For the companies surveyed, the positive aspects that stand out are human enrichment and faster filling of vacancies – a key consideration, especially in times of labor shortages. However, very few companies have set a fixed target for specific gender or women’s quotas.

This survey drew on interviews with 554 personnel managers in manufacturing, trade, and the service sector. The online survey was conducted from September 29 to October 24 in cooperation with job platform Indeed and review site Glassdoor.