Crisis in the craft: Euskirchen's companies fight with falling sales!

Crisis in the craft: Euskirchen's companies fight with falling sales!

Lövenich, Deutschland - In Euskirchen, the craft sector is still heavily challenged and suffers from enormous waiting times and exploding prices! Installer Michael Genger from Lövenich is satisfied with his order situation, but not all in the industry share this positive view. Georg Stoffels, the general manager of the Aachen Chamber of Crafts, alerts that the economic situation looks bad for many craftsmen in the Euskirchen district. A total of 43 percent of the companies report falling sales!

The numbers are worrying: only 76 percent of the craft businesses in the district rate their situation as good or satisfactory - a decline compared to previous years. The district of Euskirchen is thus consistently at the end of the region. The surveys show a dramatic decline in optimism for the coming months. The RATZE contribution seems to be behind the expectations - only 70 percent of the companies expect stability or improvement!

rising prices and long waiting times

The explosion of the prices can no longer be ignored! If you need a craftsman, you have to dig deep into your pocket: the prices for services are between 50 and 80 euros per hour. "The prices have increased terrifyingly in the past five years," complains Wilfried Schmidt, managing director of a car dealership in Euskirchen. And the business figures show that there is no improvement in sight; 50 percent of the companies surveyed expect prices to continue to increase.

The waiting times for craftsmen are alarming! For installers, customers often have to wait three months to install a new heater, and you can now also calculate with waiting times of three to four weeks for predictable car repairs. These problems are a clear indication of the tense situation in the craft, despite the still high demand for manual services. While the number of orders remains the same, the lack of workers and high inflation are shown as serious obstacles to the industry.