Germay's Chambers of Industry and Commerce out with a warning 13 March

  • German firms struggling to fill 1.6mln job vacancies
  • 6/10 see lack of qualified personnel a threat to business

Qualified? Or domestic workers not wanting to take on the jobs vacated by immigrant labour heading elsewhere as we've seen in the UK?

Who are the DIHK I hear you ask? Here's what they say.

The Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag, DIHK) is the central organisation for 79 Chambers of Commerce and Industry, CCI (Industrie- und Handelskammern, IHKs) in Germany. All German companies registered in Germany, with the exception of handicraft businesses, the free professions and farms, are required by law to join a chamber.

Thus, the DIHK speaks for more than three million entrepreneurs. They include not only big companies but also retailers and innkeepers. This gives the association considerable political influence. It does not represent any specific corporate group but all commercial enterprises in Germany.