It said in a statement that the shortage of skilled labor in this country, which generates a lack of bus and truck drivers, gardeners and bricklayers, could intensify during the next few years when the baby boom generation retires.

Baby boomers are the demographic cohort that follows the silent generation and precedes generation X. The generation is generally defined as people born between 1946 and 1964, during the post-World War II baby boom.

According to data from the Federal Statistical Office based on the results of a microcensus, in 2023 almost half of bus and tram drivers (44 percent) were at least 55 years old. 39 percent of drivers aged 55 or older were also behind the wheel of trucks.

In all occupations, the proportion of older employees was 25 percent, according to the statistics based on the microcensus.

According to these figures, the proportion of people over 55 is also particularly high in other occupations in which the Federal Employment Agency has identified a particular shortage of skilled labour.

These include, for example, meat sales, horticulture, bricklaying and meat processing. In contrast, the proportion of older carers is only slightly above average at 27 percent.

The microcensus is a sample survey in which around one percent of the German population is questioned each year.

ef/ro/rfc