German SMEs look to refugees to alleviate skilled labor shortage

German small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) considered a lack of skilled workers as their biggest challenge, and looked to the influx of refugees to alleviate the shortage, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

More than two thirds of SMEs, the backbone of German economy, found it difficult to recruit qualified skilled workers, leaving 360,000 vacancies unfilled, the survey by Ernst & Young (EY) on 3,000 German SMEs found.

They calculated that revenue losses due to the labor shortage amounted to nearly 46 billion euros (about 49.8 billion U.S. dollars) a year.

"The skills shortage threatened the German SMEs, especially in rural areas, for a long time," said EY Partner Peter Englisch.

According to the survey, 55 percent of German SMEs expected that refugees coming into Germany would contribute to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers. Some 85 percent said they were ready to hire refugees.

"Many people who are young and willing to learn come to Germany. It could revive the labor market," Englisch said.

In 2015, nearly 1.1 million refugees entered Germany. A similar number of them were expected to arrive this year. Economists said the influx of refugees would benefit Europe's biggest economy as it would boost consumption and government spending for accommodating the new comers.

From a long-term perspective, however, a successful integration was necessary if refugees continued to make contribution to the economy.

The EY survey found a majority of SMEs considered the lack of German language skills as the biggest hurdle for a successful integration of refugees.

"It is now important that people who are entitled to asylum integrate quickly into the society and in the German labor market," Englisch added. Endit