One third of German companies have emergency plan for energy shortage – survey

Only just under one-third of German companies have an emergency plan in place in the event of an energy shortage, but their responses vary widely depending on the business sector and company size, show results of the Randstad-ifo Personnel Manager survey. “Manufacturing is being hit hardest by the current energy price crisis,” said ifo researcher Johanna Garnitz. “This is also where the highest proportion of companies – 43 percent – have prepared for a potential shortage. In the service sector, the figure is 25 percent, while in trade the figure is just 17 percent.” The number of companies with precautions in place decreases with the size of the company (60% for companies with more than 500 employees, 15% for companies with up to 49 employees). The most common measures in an emergency plan include reducing the temperature in buildings and having staff use up overtime and vacation time. The least likely options are cutting jobs and restricting business operations (e.g., by cutting back production, offering fewer services, or shortening service hours).

Europe’s energy crisis, driven by the fallout of Russia’s war against Ukraine, means the continent is facing a potentially difficult winter. Governments are preparing for possible acute fossil gas shortages, a fuel that is especially important in industry, as it is used both to create high temperatures in production processes, and as a basic ingredient of products, for example in chemicals. In Germany, much of it is used to heat households. At the same time, recent calculations by Germany’s power grid operators showed there is a very small risk of “crisis-like situations in the power system”.