Red alarm level: Saxony needs thousands of new nurses until 2040!

Red alarm level: Saxony needs thousands of new nurses until 2040!

The nursing industry is faced with a huge challenge in Saxony, and the extent of the situation should not be underestimated. By 2040, almost 50% of the jobs in the nursing sector have to be filled, since many employees leave their job due to age. Report of lvz.de the aging population and the increasing number of people in need of care are drastically increasing. Up to 21,000 full -time employees are required in Saxony alone. This development is not sustainable, because more than half of the currently employed nurses work part -time, which also increases the actual personnel requirements.

A look at the current situation shows that in May 2023, 650 nurses were registered unemployed in Saxony, while 1,400 vacancies were waiting for specialists. From a purely mathematical manner, this corresponds to two vacancies per nurse, such as lvz.de reported. Klaus-Peter Hansen, head of the state labor agency, emphasizes that the sector suffers strongly from skilled workers and this urgently needs to be countered.

The demographic change as a challenge

A further consideration of the situation shows that demographic change contributes significantly to shortage of nurses. The Federal Statistical Office informs that not only the number of people in need of care will probably be in need of care by 2049 (+52%). The aging of society continues to influence this imbalance, because the baby boomer generation in particular increases the retirement age. This leads to a significant gap in the job market that particularly affects the care industry.

The challenges also increase because many older nurses will retire in the next few years and the youngsters are rare in nursing professions. A disproportionate number of older employees is needed to manage the future increase to those in need of care. The image of the nursing profession, which has suffered over the years, also plays a not insignificant role. If the image is under pressure, we can probably breathe.

measures to improve the situation

A ray of hope in the dark reversal of trends shows in the AWO Saxony-West, where the number of trainees in nursing calls is almost twice as high than recently. This year, 40 new apprentices begin their training, which indicates growing interest. Payment has also improved: In the first year of apprenticeship, prospective specialists received 1,340 euros per month. According to lvz.de A third, from 2019 with almost 3,000 euros gross to around 3,800 euros in 2023.

Another sign of hope is the immigration of specialists from abroad. AWO Sachsen-West has targeted nursing staff from the Philippines; These only complete one adjustment course to work here. The aim is also to integrate Vietnamese into training. The size of the proportion of foreigners in nursing professions in Saxony was between 6% and 8% in the previous year, with an increasing tendency.