According to Jörg Dittrich, the President of German craftsmen, the typical waiting period for an appointment with a tradesperson has significantly decreased. He reported to the Funke media group that the average wait time is now 8.9 weeks, though he noted that residents in urban areas must expect to wait longer than those in rural regions. This is a marked improvement compared to periods when waiting times reached 14 weeks.
Despite this improvement, Dittrich described the impact of the Iran crisis on the German trades sector as dramatic, citing massive pressure on the industry. He stated that there is a real risk that entire business models could collapse, leading to widespread job cuts. The trades sector already lost over 60,000 jobs in the previous year alone. Furthermore, the crisis has led many families to postpone planned investments, causing a noticeable decline in commissioned work.
The supply chains have been immediately disrupted, particularly within the construction sector. Because many materials require high amounts of energy to produce, costs are rising. For instance, polystyrene insulation, which relies on crude oil, has become directly more expensive. This shortage has forced the market toward mineral wool, which is now facing scarcity. The confluence of rising transport costs with raw material scarcity has pushed prices in the construction sector up by as much as 50%. Consequentially, delivery times have sharply increased, jumping from two weeks to 16 weeks.
Dittrich warned that the economic downturn has a broader consumer effect: higher expenditures at filling stations mean consumers spend less on discretionary items like going to the hairdresser or buying bread and pastries.
Given these pressures, Dittrich called upon the federal government to extend the existing discount on fuel above the originally planned two months. He argued that as long as the state profits from the higher mineral oil taxes due to the crisis, it should pass those savings on to consumers, demanding that the discount remain in place.
Ultimately, while the gas discount is a “correct step” because the state is profiting from the crisis, Dittrich stressed that the most crucial immediate step is for Germany to strengthen its overall competitiveness through necessary reforms.
