I’m self-employed so I don’t have personal experience, but all around me (in Berlin) people are struggling to find work. I have more unemployed friends than ever and they stay unemployed for longer than ever. Others are afraid to risk their job in any way. Employers got bolder in their demands and English-speaking workers are fighting for scraps. The UX industry is absolutely cutthroat right now.
I work in immigration and my colleagues in the industry noticed the difference in skilled immigration. It even affected the overpriced temporary housing market that mostly targeted skilled immigrant workers. Freelance relocation consultants report having their worst year on record.
I also noticed a dip in traffic but it might be caused by Google’s plundering of the web with its AI summaries. I can’t tell if the actual demand changed. I run a website that helps immigrants settle.
It’s generally accepted in Germany that things are not great right now. I could likely find matching evidence in yearly reports, but the vibe alone is telling.
Germany always was an importer of energy, and a couple of years ago it decided to replace energy imports from Russia with imports from other countries. Many had warned that this would hurt the country's economy. Even those who were, and still are, in charge acknowledged the fact. But they prefer it this way.
Germans have committed economic suicide by relying on russian natural gas and closing their nuclear power plants. Germany is an example of how expensive electricity kills an economy.
France is also an energy importer but they built nuclear power so that they couldn't be held hostage. Unfortunately the German government was run by former east German communists who didn't mind being held hostage.
And it's not just in programming-related jobs either. Parts of industry and the blue collar market are shitting themselves in Germany right now.
Two people I know have been let go (pumps and wood sectors resp.). Another (metal construction) is getting barely more than minimum wage. There's only one dude (chemical engineer) who is doing well (nearing 100k at 5 years work experience). The others are getting by.
Politicians are still complaining about Fachkräftemangel, skilled labor shortage, but it's really a wage slave shortage.
Everyone coming from an ex-Warsaw-Pact country most probably already lived through that before. We've entered the market economy (and stopped the play-pretend) with huge unemployment and lack of skilled workers at the same time.
Related or not (Covid was a big shock after all), "rich" countries have been living way over their means for many decades now (in terms of natural resources). It's particularly wild to see people calling for a return to the "norm" that were the post-WW2 decades : that wasn't a "norm", that was the fastest growth period that mankind had ever seen (and probably will ever see) !
So now (since the 1970s) we are way over due for a correction... which is probably going to look like a few centuries of recession with a few good years (for some maybe even good decades) thrown in here and there.
It was on everyone’s lips for a few years, to the point that it had become the placeholder for the entire meme.
The short version is that there is a shortage of skilled workers that absolutely requires immigrants to fill the gaps. However when you look around there isn’t really a shortage; people just aren’t willing to work for little pay. The English term implies that there is an actual shortage.
It might please you to know just how much English other languages are peppered with.
It's being used in the German political discourse since at least the first term of the Schröder government in the late 1990es, which is about where I started following the news and politics more closely. It has been used cynically as justification for every thinkable cut into the social system ever since, from lobbying against a minimum wage to moving up the retirement age. You won't find many people, except for politicians and lobbyists, that'll still use the term unironically. It seems there are remarkable parallels on the other side of the Atlantic ocean.
Less pay in EU means working to afford only the rent, bills, and groceries. One is better off doing nothing professionally and living off their savings. Well, the 2025 is going to be interesting....
You hear this or that in Germany. Demand yes, pay meh.
It's probably true if you own the company, but there's also disgruntled folks who apparently got treated like shit during their apprenticeship and who snicker at their former employers or dissuade would-be prospects when their field isn't doing well (boohoo poor Porsche drivers) or when they try to advertise a craft. At least the YT comments under several blue collar documentaries/adverts say so, but I know none personally.
Then there's an ongoing crisis in construction due to widespread financing problems (need two decently paid full time earners, no kids, to afford it with some certainty and no 30+ year debt slavery at least around where I live) and assorted crafts.
An electrician friend is doing okay, but not exactly great, at barely more than 40k pre-tax per year. Another one who is farmer on the side (can't afford to live from it) makes about as much in his profession (mechanic). I.e. forget single earner family and/or mortgage.
It's difficult to gauge accurately, because statistics are complicated and/or shit and/or biased, the employment situation highly depends on region and field and things seem to be changing at a crazy pace, not least caused by the recent economic shocks (war, COVID, a decade+ of QE), problems with funding pensions/bad demography, increasing competition in core industries, high energy prices and political indecisiveness. How much each factor contributes remains a mystery to me. Wealth m/billionaires seem to be growing fine.
Personally I'm more and more convinced there's no conspiracy and things really are as bad... The Japanification of Germany. At least our debt isn't as high yet.
Same in Australia. I’m at a startup involved with placing people on digital projects.
I see a lot of amazing people struggling in the market right now. This is mirrored by a general slowdown in actual project spend by businesses.
Locally, there has been a very very minor uptick in activity prior to Christmas which is a historically weird time for that to happen, so I’m slightly optimistic for the new year.
In Europe it's a little bit different though in my opinion. Here most of industries have been just regulated to death, a money is leaving and things fall apart like house of cards. And EU thinks that the answer is ... more regulations.
I work in immigration and my colleagues in the industry noticed the difference in skilled immigration. It even affected the overpriced temporary housing market that mostly targeted skilled immigrant workers. Freelance relocation consultants report having their worst year on record.
I also noticed a dip in traffic but it might be caused by Google’s plundering of the web with its AI summaries. I can’t tell if the actual demand changed. I run a website that helps immigrants settle.
It’s generally accepted in Germany that things are not great right now. I could likely find matching evidence in yearly reports, but the vibe alone is telling.