DThe reference to the “young and well-trained workforce” is not missing from any Turkey presentation. In fact, the 85 million population is young, with an average age of barely 32, and millions populate the universities. But there is a lack of workers. “We industrialists are feeling the shortage of personnel everywhere, it extends well into the service industry,” says entrepreneur Alper Kanca from the automotive supplier association TAYSAD.
Kanca, who runs an industrial park near Istanbul, knows of two cases in which entrepreneurs canceled investments because of a labor shortage. “This is becoming a real problem.”
The labor shortage is a new issue for the economy, which has been hit by 60 percent inflation. This can be seen in the semi-annual surveys conducted by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK) on the situation. As a rule, the workforce issue ends up at the bottom of the list. But now it has made a leap forward, further than ever: 43 percent of German companies in Turkey are worried about finding enough workers. In a worldwide comparison of chambers, only 37 percent of companies problemate this.
Local German companies are increasingly concerned
“The concerns of German companies about finding suitable skilled workers in Turkey are growing,” says AHK board member Thilo Pahl. Well-qualified specialists with foreign language skills were looking for better-paid jobs abroad – and foreign employers as a springboard: “A job with German companies in Turkey is often perceived as just a stopover on the way to Germany and Europe.” A permanent position improves the prospect of a visa considerably. Pahl calls the trend worrying. Investments are increasingly dependent on the availability of skilled workers. “More than ever, a stronger focus on broad academic and vocational training would be the lever for greater attractiveness as a location – and thus also for more investments in Turkey.”
The number of employees has increased over the years. While the statistics office only counted 18.2 million in 2005, this fall there were 32 million. The number of industrial jobs climbed from 4 to 6.6 million, while those in services doubled to 18 million. The employment rate of 53.6 percent – in Germany it is 77.5 percent – indicates that the country has potential in female employment. But it also shows that the labor supply is finite.
Refugees take on menial jobs – and polarize people
That's one reason why some people in Ankara are less dissatisfied with the 5 million refugees than it officially sounds. They take on jobs that locals are too good for: farming, construction and garbage collection, in care – often in the shadow economy. If Syrians, Afghans and other foreigners were deported, which four out of five Turks support in surveys, “too many households in the better neighborhoods would suddenly be left without a nanny,” says one person in Ankara pointedly.
For the government, which relies on foreign investors and the expansion of production, the labor issue must be an alarm signal. Especially since the misery is not limited to the economic centers of Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir. The situation in Konya in central Anatolia is as tense as in Gaziantep on the border with Syria.
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