Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Lack of maintenance solidifies
Incoming care for the elderly faltering
Care facilities are looking for staff all over the country. But last year the industry even recorded a decline in employees for months. Despite all the political statements, nothing changes in terms of staff shortages and overload.
The shortage of skilled workers in geriatric care is becoming entrenched. In the Corona year 2020, the industry gained significantly fewer employees than in previous years. The increase was halved, as a response from the Federal Employment Agency to a request from the left in the Bundestag shows. The industry had around 629,000 employees at the end of 2020, 10,000 more than at the end of 2019. This corresponds to an increase of 1.6 percent in employment subject to social security contributions. In the previous year, the increase was a good 3.1 percent. In the previous year it was even just under 3.3 percent.
The left-wing MP Pia Zimmermann, who made the request, emphasized that the increase in employment in geriatric care had not yet been able to change anything in terms of staff shortages and workload. A decline in growth alone is therefore an alarming sign, said Zimmermann.
Different picture in nursing
The additional burdens in the care facilities due to Corona are not the only reason for the collapse in employment dynamics. Because in 2020 there were consistently declines in the number of employees from January to July – even before the onset of the pandemic in spring. In previous years there had only been such declines in individual months. A comparison with nursing shows a different picture: There was also an increase in the number of employees in the past year. The increase in 2020 was 3.2 percent after 2.6 and 1.7 percent in previous years.
Attempts to politically counteract the shortage of skilled workers in the care of the elderly have had at best moderate success in recent years, according to Zimmermann. The politician named the “13,000 job program” started in 2019 as an example, which with almost 3000 jobs has so far fallen short of expectations, she said, referring to the umbrella association of health insurance companies.
Zimmermann called for resolute countermeasures for growing numbers of employees – also with the participation of Caritas and Diakonie as large operators of care facilities. Zimmermann suggested that a commission of experts should meet in the summer, including the participation of the two church organizations and the Verdi service union. There is no getting around adequate collective agreements and their solid financing.
.