Baker in need: Without migrants, a bread crisis threatens in the Ostalb district!

Baker in need: Without migrants, a bread crisis threatens in the Ostalb district!

In the Ostalbkreis, the bakery industry is fighting with considerable challenges. Karl-Heinz Stollenmeier, senior manager of the Hüttlinger Bakery Stollenmeier, is skeptical about the prospect of gaining migrants as a solution for the current shortage of skilled workers. The bakery is confronted with an acute lack of employees both in sales and in production. Stollenmeier describes the situation as a "catastrophe" because many bakers are forced to close their companies.

Aktuell work around 1250 specialists in the Ostalb district in the bakery industry, which have to start working at the earliest between 2 and 3 a.m. Despite the early shift, the profession offers attractive opportunities for independence and granted free time in the afternoon, which Stollenmeier emphasizes. His bakery has now adjusted the working hours so that the employees start between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

difficulties in recruitment

Overall, the Hüttlinger bakery employs 70 people who are distributed at five sales outlets. A failed attempt to recruit specialists from Morocco due to a lack of knowledge of German and reliability, only reflected part of the problems that are causing the industry. According to the "bakery monitor", 84 percent of employees complain about the stressful working conditions caused by a lack of personnel. Overtime, time pressure and stress are widespread.

In the Ostalb district there are currently 59 trainees in 85 companies in the back industry. In fact, every fourth trainee in the back industry has a migration background, which illustrates the trend to recruit migrants to secure young people in the industry. Nevertheless, the training in the industry remains demanding; At the start of the training, trainees earn 1020 euros per month, in the third year of training the salary increases to 1230 euros.

integration of migrants into the labor market

The labor market situation shows that there is a high proportion of people with immigration history in certain industries in the German economy. More than 51 percent of food production employees have a migration background. This illustrates the need to integrate migrants into the labor market, especially in professions that are affected by a shortage of skilled workers. The Federal Employment Agency provides various relevant statistics to analyze these challenges and take suitable measures [Employment Agency] .

In order to measure the integration success of the immigrants, various indicators such as unemployment, employment and SGB II aid quota are decisive. These odds provide information about the ratio of the registered unemployed and their ability to work. It is evident that despite the engagement of companies such as the Hüttlinger bakery, the challenges in the recruitment of workers remain in the migrant area.

The NGG union also plans to improve working conditions and wages in the bread industry through negotiations. The aim is to reduce the loads from shift work and enforce the wages for the employees. Ultimately, this could also help to increase the attractiveness of the industry for future employees [Schwäbische] . In summary, it turns out that the shortage of skilled workers in the bakery industry without innovative solutions and, if necessary, an effective integration of migrants will be difficult to manage. The demographic change and the changing labor market condition require new approaches and strategies in order to be able to cover the need for qualified workers in the future.