Germans gloomy about country's economic prospects: Survey

Berlin, Jan 27 Only 39 per cent of respondents of a new survey conducted in Germany said they were confident that their country will still be one of the leading economic nations in 10 to 15 years, compared with 59 per cent five years ago.

The survey conducted by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper was published on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Another survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research (IfD) found that 14 per cent of the respondents thought that Germany would emerge stronger from the crises of the past few years.

The majority of respondents identified "serious weaknesses", such as in transport infrastructure, digital equipment, the quality of schools, and the compatibility of family and career, the IfD found.

Seventy-nine per cent saw too much bureaucracy and regulations as a major reason for the shortfalls, followed by a lack of skilled staff in Germany.

According to recent calculations by the Institute for Employment Research of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Germany could lack up to seven million skilled workers by 2035.

There is already a shortage in many sectors, such as skilled trades, energy transition, housing construction, information technology (IT) companies and nursing care.

Labour Minister Hubertus Heil last week called for "utilizing all domestic potential" with improvements in education and training.

The draft of an immigration law would be presented in March to bring "helping hands and bright minds to Germany".

The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) earlier this week presented a ten-point program to simplify and digitize administrative procedures, standardise approvals and make immigration easier.

Crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the energy price increase have been "shaping our lives for some time now", the DIHK said in a statement.

Recent years have shown that "our state is often not sufficiently capable of acting, and in any case not fast enough".