Mobility transition expected to create 60,000 additional jobs
Handelsblatt
The mobility transition will have a positive effect on employment in Germany, particularly in three regions, Handelsblatt reports, citing a report by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) and the Society for Economic Structural Research (GWS). If the desired mobility transition succeeds, it could lead to the creation of some 60,000 additional jobs by 2040, compared to a base scenario in the report. The biggest winners include Berlin, the Düsseldorf/Ruhr region and Hamburg and its surrounding area. Job losses are expected primarily in rural areas as well as the metropolitan regions of Hanover and Halle/Leipzig, which have so far been heavily influenced by vehicle construction. “The bottom line is that the mobility transition does not lead to job losses,” said Enzo Weber, who heads the forecast and macroeconomic analyses department at the IAB. “Even the automotive regions that have so far lived off the combustion engine are not falling into the abyss.” Researches also examined related areas, such as improvements in rail infrastructure, the digitalisation in road freight transport and changes in passenger transport, such as the increased use of car sharing and local public transport. The researchers say that by 2040 around 220,000 jobs will have been lost, largely in the auto and supplier industry and repair shops. At the same time, however, 280,000 new jobs are likely to be created at all skill levels, the report found.
Media coverage on the upheaval in the car industry has largely focused on the embattled carmakers. But recent evidence suggest that they might manage the shift to electric mobility with fewer job losses than feared. The National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM) recently determined that Germany could remain a leading market and innovator in mobility and car production after the shift to electric vehicles, but it would be a “herculean task” that would necessitate corresponding policies and new large-scale infrastructure.
