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Just before Christmas infoteam Software welcomed Michael Slackman and Stefan Pauly, both journalists for New York Times. CEO Karl-Heinz John gave his insights on the economic situation of the region Erlangen-Höchstadt and the companies experiences and future plans.

ERLANGEN-HÖCHSTADT, Germany — By nearly every measure this industrial region in Bavaria, home to exporting giants like Siemens Healthcare, Adidas and Puma, is at the center of Germany’s resilient economic success, driving the nation’s growth even as much of Europe struggles to stay solvent.

“Struggling” families are seen in Erlangen-Höchstadt. [...] Low salaries — and higher prices — are a core complaint of German workers who are increasingly demanding wage increases after a decade in which their real earnings dropped by 4.5 percent when adjusted for inflation, according to a recent report by the International Labor Organization. Exports have grown robustly in part because workers agreed years ago to reduced wages and reduced hours to make Germany more competitive.

Like workers in other industrialized nations, including the United States, Germans also have had to accept that the jobs available are not as secure as they once were. The number of people in nonstandard or atypical employment in Germany increased to 7.72 million in 2008 from 5.29 million in 1998, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

“I see how families are struggling,” said Eberhard Irlinger, administrator for Erlangen-Höchstadt, a district of about 130,000 people around the city of Erlangen. “In fact, part of the economic prosperity comes from people not getting the social security they should have. Germans are very reluctant to help other people when they have had to step back from their own demands.”

Yet these feelings of insecurity do not fit neatly into the picture of a nation that has strikingly outperformed its neighbors. In fact, many Bavarian businesses say their biggest problem these days is a shortage of skilled workers to fill positions that would help meet a growing demand for German quality goods.

Across the nation, Germany has experienced a severe shortage of skilled workers, in part because of its low unemployment rate, but also because of a low birth rate and a relatively unwelcoming environment for immigrants, said officials, business leaders and experts.

“We have lost contracts because we just don’t have the people,” said Karl-Heinz John, chief executive officer of the small software developer called Infoteam in the nearby village of Bubenreuth. “I know that all my industry partners are having trouble finding adequately educated people.” Mr. John said he had to walk away from $1 million in contracts last year. But Infoteam still grew.

Germany’s economy is on track to expand at nearly 4 percent this year, while many of its southern neighbors struggle through recession. The national unemployment rate is at an 18-year low of 7 percent. The country’s industrial output rose faster than expected and although exports fell unexpectedly in October by 1.1 percent, imports rose to a new post-war high. That rise in imports spurred some optimism that the consumer sector may play a larger role in fueling Germany’s future economic growth as demand for its products stalls in the financially troubled euro zone nations. Growth is expected to continue in 2011, and last week a key monitoring institute reported that business confidence was up compared with a year ago.

Read the full article here.