South of Germany is a paradise for young professionals 8. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot University graduates most of the time settle in the south of Germany. 58.5% of all jobs for university graduates are advertised in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, three quarters of which in the Free State of Bavaria alone. In particular engineers are very much sought after in the south of Germany. 71.3% of vacancies are addressed to …
German SMEs doing too little research 8. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot German companies, in particular small and medium-sized entities (SMEs), doing their research work exclusively in Germany have extended their activities to a much smaller extent than their US counterparts. This shows that German companies need more incentives by their domestic market in order to encrease their research activities, warns the Berlin based German Institute for …
German foreign trade strongly increased in 2006 8. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot German imports and exports strongly increased in 2006. Compared with 2005 imports rose by 16.5% to 731.7 billion Euros and exports by 13.7% to 893.6 billion Euros. The foreign trade balance for 2006 showed a trade surplus amounting to 161.9 billion Euros (2005: 158.2 billion Euros). These preliminary results were published today by the Federal …
Germans using always more consumer electronics 7. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot According to the Federal Statistical Office Germans are increasingly buying consumer electronics. Thus, in spring 2006 about 23% of households possessed an MP3 player (+8% as compared with 2005). 42% had a digital camera (+10 percent), 59% owned a DVD player (+9 %), 21% a notebook or a laptop (+4 percent).
40.000 companies and 140.000 jobs at risk 7. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot In particular small family-owned businesses have problems in finding suitable company successors. This is the result of a survey conducted by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce (DIHK) and Industry among 1100 companies. As a consequence almost 40.000 companies and 140.000 jobs are threatened each year, says the DIHK, the main reason being that …
Opinions divided on yet another EU enlargement 7. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot The opinions of Europeans on yet another EU enlargement are divided. 46% of EU citizens are in favour of further enlargement and 42% against. The Germans, French and the Brits have very serious reservations, whereas Poles, Slovenians and Greeks are in favour of further countries being admitted to the European Union. These are the findings …
Further decrease in company insolvencies 7. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot The Federal Statistical Office today reported another fall in company insolvencies for November 2006. Local courts recorded 2326 company insolvencies, which represent a decrease by 17.6% as compared to November 2005. The number of private insolvencies, however, continued to rise.
Knowledge of regional culture important for business success of outsiders 6. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot What happens if „global players« move to another region or take over local deep-rooted companies with a long tradition? The local workforce, traditional skills, working morale, existing networks of innovation and cultural factors are important factors of success to multinational corporations too. The complexity of this matter is being studied by the Institut Arbeit und …
5. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot The demographic development in Germany is already influencing the economy. And this influence is set to increase strongly over the years to come and affect in particular small and medium-sized entities. A recent demographic report by the Bertelsmann foundation shows that even in economically strong federal states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg there is a …
Wind turbine market grew by 23 percent in 2006 3. February 2007 by Thomas Jannot The wind turbine market which is very much influenced by small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) is booming. The annual statistics presented yesterday by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal an enourmous growth rate for the European wind turbine market in 2006. In the course of 2006 wind turbines with a capacitance of 7588 megawatt …