Medium-sized businesses in crisis: jobs are disappearing, hard workers are fighting!

Medium-sized businesses in crisis: jobs are disappearing, hard workers are fighting!

The economic challenges facing German medium-sized businesses will still be noticeable in 2025. ZDF.reportage accompanied Malocher from the Rheinbach industrial area near Cologne in 2023 and will once again ask about their current experiences and expectations of the new government. A central topic is e-mobility, which has become increasingly important in recent years.

Claus Trilling, who runs two car dealerships in the region, is critical of the development. While one of his businesses is doing well, the other is struggling with heavy losses. He reports a noticeable reluctance to buy electric cars, which in his opinion cannot meet the necessary demand. This skepticism is also shared by gas station operator Karl-Heinz Breuer, who fears that many electric cars will remain unused. Breuer has already made plans to make his gas station crisis-proof and to train his employee Renate Bach in the new circumstances.

Economic framework conditions and their consequences

Landscape designer Klaus Dietzler also faces challenges. The increased interest rates have a negative impact on the construction of single-family homes and lead to fewer orders. Although he continues to receive projects in the Bad Neuenahr flood area and from regular customers, high fuel costs, which amount to 1,500 to 2,000 euros per month, make the work increasingly unprofitable.

Generational change is an important topic in the stove manufacturer industry. Sabine Finselberger carried out this; her sons now run the business. However, it is facing an acute shortage of good staff after a worker quit after just six months because he was receiving almost the same unemployment benefit as wages. Finselberger criticizes the current unemployment benefit system and the political framework as unsustainable. Family businesses are having a particularly difficult time due to the current economic downturn, high levels of bureaucracy and a shortage of workers.

Impact of e-mobility on the labor market

E-mobility plays a central role in the transformation of the German labor market. Studies by Agora Verkehrswende and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) show that the switch to electric cars will have far-reaching consequences. While 70,000 jobs in automobile production and 95,000 in the supplier industry could be lost by 2030, a net increase of 25,000 jobs is also forecast.

95,000 new jobs are expected, particularly in battery production and in energy infrastructure and manufacturing. 15,000 new jobs are also expected to be created in plant engineering and services through renovation work in the car plants. Eastern Germany is expected to be a particular beneficiary of this transformation, expecting 16,000 new jobs in battery cell production.

Despite the prospect of new jobs, the Ifo Institute warns that by 2025 more jobs could be lost than employees will retire. The Fraunhofer Institute adds that the need for employees in Volkswagen factories will fall by 2,900 and that almost half of the 1.7 million jobs in the industry will require retraining and further training.

Large companies are investing in transformation measures, while smaller suppliers need support. The Federal Employment Agency expects job losses subject to social security contributions, but also sees positive opportunities for transformation. Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer also advocates openness to technology, including the development of fuel cells and synthetic fuels, to support the transition to electromobility.

The coming years will be crucial for German medium-sized businesses and the entire automotive industry. It remains to be seen how the new political framework and technological change will change the situation.

You can find more information in the detailed ZDF.reportage at ZDF as well as in the analysis of the effects of e-mobility on the German labor market Haufe.