Overview
- The ZDH estimates roughly 200,000 unfilled skilled-trade jobs, compared with 119,565 vacancies registered with the Federal Employment Agency at the end of December.
- Creditreform reports 4,950 craft-sector insolvencies in 2025, the highest level in about a decade, citing rising energy, material and wage costs and weak demand in several segments.
- Sector employment could decline by about 60,000 this year as many craftsmen retire and succession efforts falter, according to the ZDH.
- A total of 16,213 craft apprenticeships went unfilled in 2025, leaving about one in nine training places vacant based on positions registered with the agency.
- At the International Handwerksmesse in Munich, the industry is showcasing new recruiting tools such as the Minecraft-based Handwerk Heroes app and mobile workshops, and it will press Chancellor Friedrich Merz on cutting bureaucracy, taxes, social charges and energy costs while forecasting only about 1% revenue growth in 2026.