Stepstone analysis: Labor shortages looming again as vacation season starts

• Still many vacancies in hospitality and tourism nationwide
• Employees in amusement parks, security services and baths in May particularly in demand - in each case over 20 per cent more jobs on Stepstone.de compared with the previous year
• Labor market expert Tobias Zimmermann: "The wave of vacationers will show: The great labor shortage has finally arrived in Germany."

It was the long lines at airports, closed open-air pools, hotels and restaurants with limited offerings: labor shortages put a serious damper on many people's vacations last year. According to a recent analysis by The Stepstone Group, things could get tight again in many places this summer season: There are currently more vacancies in the hospitality and tourism industry than in 2022, and security service providers are also continuing their search for staff.

"As the vacation season kicks off, many companies are desperately looking for employees," says Dr. Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert at The Stepstone Group, a leading global digital recruiting platform. "The wave of vacationers will show: The great labor shortage has finally arrived in Germany."

Labor shortage especially in the hospitality industry

The demand for personnel in the hospitality industry remains high: In May 2023, there are 7 percent more job postings on Stepstone.de compared to the previous year. For example, cooks (+ 8 percent), bartenders (+ 5 percent) and waiters (+ 4 percent) continue to be in high demand.

"We have already observed a huge demand for personnel in the hospitality industry in 2022. It’s no surprise: on one hand, we all wanted to get back to restaurants and go on vacations, on the other hand, companies had lost a lot of staff during the pandemic."

"These new challenges in terms of employees will continue in 2023 and make themselves felt in longer company vacations, additional days off, and shortened opening hours or smaller menus," says Zimmermann.

The number of typical summer jobs advertised in May is also significantly higher than in the previous year. For example, amusement park employees (+26 percent) and lifeguards (+20 percent) are currently in high demand on Stepstone.de.

Automation and artificial intelligence still too reluctantly used as a solution

But there is also still a shortage of labor in the security service: The number of vacancies on Stepstone.de grew by around a quarter (24 percent) within a year in May 2023.

"These employees are, for example, urgently needed at airports, but also for events," says Zimmermann.

"We already observed this phenomenon last year. And yet, all the measures that were supposed to provide relief at airports have not been effective enough."

"Many tasks could be solved by smart technologies and especially with the help of AI, for example baggage handling or security checks."

"Investment in this area urgently needs to change in the future. Improving our efficiency and productivity is crucial to meeting people's desire for respite from monotonous tasks. Only in this way can they concentrate in the long term on activities in which they can contribute their interpersonal skills. There are immense opportunities here across all sectors."

About the Stepstone analysis
The StepStone Group's analysis is based on the average number of daily job advertisements on Stepstone.de. On the other hand, data experts have analyzed the change in the actual number of advertisements for the job titles mentioned. The analyses regard the period from May 2022 to May 2023.