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From Luisa Zenker
The shortage of skilled workers and Germany's ageing workforce is making itself felt in Saxony's boardroom: one in four family businesses in Saxony will need a new managing director by 2030, and in the skilled trades it is even one in three companies. According to a report by the Saxon Ministry of Economic Affairs According to the study, around 33,110 companies in Saxony will be looking for new management staff by 2030 because their bosses are retiring.
However, not every company is attractive to the next generation. The report estimates that a large proportion, i.e. around 20,000 companies, will close when their owners retire. Most of the companies affected are micro-enterprises and solo self-employed, which the report says are not attractive to young talent.
Few people of founding age
However, the remaining 10,000 businesses urgently need a new boss within the next seven years. They all generate a minimum profit of more than 30,000 euros each and provide a total of 131,800 jobs in Saxony.
However, if you look at the German age pyramid, there are fewer and fewer people between the ages of 18 and 40 who are ready to start a business. What's more, most bosses express their desire to hand over their business very late in life. In addition, according to the report, fewer and fewer young people are considering company succession as a career option.
"The work-life balance is too important"
Thomas Kralinski, State Secretary in the Saxon Ministry of Economic Affairs is therefore calling for self-employment to be taught early on in school and training. "Succession - that's easier than starting a new company."
Uwe Wagner can only agree to a limited extent. The Managing Director himself founded the Dresden-based company DELTEC electronics GmbH he says: "I can develop and shape myself freely. It's fun." But he has also encountered many hurdles: "It's not always easy to take over an existing business concept." In addition, financial and tax relief is important because, according to the guarantee bank, the successor must contribute at least ten percent of the business value.
"The work-life balance is too much of a priority," says Wagner, explaining another reason why company successors are becoming rarer. Representatives from the Ministry of Economic Affairs see the potential here to share the executive chair as a duo or trio in order to remain attractive to the younger generation and relieve the burden on individuals. "Society is evolving, it's not a bad thing to combine life, family and work," says State Secretary Kralinski, defending the younger generation's trend.
