Gerhard Bosch: Firstly the state, with the school system. Many young people are leaving school without sufficient numerical and language skills to take up an apprenticeship in engineering or electrical occupations, and secondly the companies, they didn't train enough and they cut training especially where it's needed now.

Gerhard Bosch: They thought that in the long term they would need less people but in fact they needed more people so this was very short-sighted of them.

DW-TV: Well whatever the reasons are, the result is now a severe shortage in skilled labour, particularly in engineering and the electrical industry. More than 30 percent of employers say they can't fill current vacancies. What must be done to alleviate this shortage?

Gerhard Bosch: Our school system needs to be improved, we need to invest more, and secondly young people have to get interested in taking up an apprenticeship in technical subjects, or as engineers at universities so companies have to go into schools to get the young people interested.

Gerhard Bosch: I don't think this is a short-term solution. A long-term solution probably would be to allow foreign students who studied technical subjects in Germany and who already know the German language to stay here, right now it's very difficult for them to stay, even if they want to.

DW-TV: But companies say that really in the long run when the German population gets older they need immigration to fill the vacancies.

Gerhard Bosch: Yes we need immigation, no doubt but what we also need is we need to use the potential we have, for example the potential of women, and of older workers, and we don't use these huge sources of human capital in our economy.

Gerhard Bosch: I think prejudices are dominant against employing older workers and for women it's very important to reconcile work and family, by extending childcare provisions and half-day schooling to full-time schooling in Germany.