The market is empty: the harsh reality of finding an electronics technician

The figures don't lie: there is a shortage of almost 57,000 skilled workers in the energy and electrical professions across Germany. In purely mathematical terms, this means that seven out of ten vacancies for electronics technicians cannot be filled because there are no suitably qualified unemployed people. This shortage is not an abstract problem, but a direct threat to your business. Projects are delayed, orders are rejected and the energy transition, which relies on these experts, comes to a standstill.

Every day that a position remains unfilled has direct financial consequences. The average vacancy costs amount to €49,500, a sum that results from lost productivity and overworked teams. Many companies overlook the fact that these costs far exceed the price of professional recruiting. The average time to fill of 138 days further exacerbates the situation. So if you are waiting for applications, you are not only losing time, but also money. The traditional methods of finding skilled workers are obviously no longer sufficient to fill this gap.

So the problem is not with you, but with the system. The old ways no longer work when the pool of active seekers has practically dried up. It's time to change your perspective and go to where the talent actually is.

Why job portals fail: You can reach passive candidates differently

You place an ad on a well-known job portal and wait. And you wait. The problem: Qualified electronics engineers with a permanent job don't need to actively search for new positions. They are among the 90% of passive candidates who are open to better offers but don't spend their evenings on job boards. So your ad doesn't even reach them. Instead, they spend their time on social media, where 71 million Germans are regularly active.

This is exactly where your opportunity lies. Instead of hoping that a top electronics engineer will stumble across your ad by chance, you can target them specifically. With social recruiting campaigns, you can reach candidates directly in their digital after-work hours. This is not a dream of the future, but a reality. A study showed that 60% of skilled trade companies in Frankfurt already use social networks to find employees. So if you continue to rely solely on traditional methods, you will lose touch with modern recruitment. The question is no longer whether you use social media, but how you do it efficiently.

But how do you turn a thumb stop on Instagram into a qualified application without overloading your own HR department? The answer lies in automation.

KMLS case study: 76% success rate for niche profiles in the craft sector

The KMLS Group, a building technology service provider with around 300 employees, was faced with precisely this challenge: they had to find highly specialized service technicians for HVAC, TGA and MSR. An almost impossible task using traditional methods. KMLS has been relying on inga's Job-Bots for over five years and has achieved an impressive placement rate of 76% in more than 50 projects. The secret lies in the combination of precise targeting on social media and an automated chatbot that handles the initial contact.

The process is simple and effective. Potential candidates see an appealing ad in their social media feed. With one click, they start a short, straightforward interview with the job bot - without any cover letter or CV. The result for KMLS: an average of 21 screened applications per vacancy. "The job bot is fast, uncomplicated ... talent flows directly into our BMS - the icing on the cake," confirms the management. This approach proves that it is possible to reliably find staff even in the competitive skilled trades market.

This method not only massively reduces the administrative workload, but also provides a constant pipeline of qualified profiles. However, success depends on the quality of the pre-qualification.

Quality instead of spam: How bots drastically reduce HR workloads

A flood of unsuitable applications is a nightmare for any HR team. This is where intelligent Job-Bots separate the wheat from the chaff. They take over the pre-qualification process by automatically querying the most important criteria. This ensures that only candidates who really fit the bill end up in your applicant management system. The EDEKA Group has been using this advantage for over 120 projects and 20 different profiles since 2020 - from store management to counter service.

The result is a hiring rate of 72% and an average of 21 pre-qualified applications per job. The job bot conducts a short, standardized mini-interview that avoids employer brand bias and asks for the skills that really matter. This automation not only delivers better candidates, but also saves the HR team up to 15 hours of manual work per week. For companies, this means

• Faster processes: From advertisement to qualified profile in under 48 hours.
• Higher quality: Only applicants who meet the basic requirements are forwarded.
• Less effort: The HR department can concentrate on the best candidates.
• Better candidate experience: Applicants receive immediate feedback.

This efficient process not only works for large companies like EDEKA, but can also be adapted for the search for highly specialized technicians and experts.

Manual work for experts: The SCHRAMM approach for rare profiles

But what if you are looking for highly specialized electronics engineers with rare skills that are virtually invisible on the open market? This is where standard bots fail. The recruiting service provider SCHRAMM has specialized in precisely these "hidden champions" and has been using individually programmed bots from inga since 2022. Instead of a "one-size-fits-all" approach, each bot is tailored to the respective expert role like a tailor-made suit.

These "manual labor bots" enable extremely precise targeting that goes far beyond normal demographic characteristics. They target passive candidates in a way that recognizes their expertise and sparks genuine interest. SCHRAMM's success proves that customized bots attract passive candidates where traditional channels and active sourcing have long failed. It's not about generating hundreds of applications, but finding the 5 right ones. This focus on quality rather than quantity is the key to competing for the best skilled trades experts.

The combination of technology and a customized approach is the decisive factor in filling even the most difficult vacancies.

Your roadmap to a successful electronics technician search

You've seen that it works. Now you're wondering how you can implement this strategy for your company to finally find the electronics technicians you need. Here's a simple 5-step roadmap based on the success principles of KMLS, EDEKA and SCHRAMM:

1. Define your target precisely: Determine exactly what skills your electronics technician really needs. The clearer the profile, the more focused the social media campaign can be.
2. Choose the right channels: Reach your target group where they spend their time. For technical profiles, networks such as Facebook and Instagram are often more effective than business platforms.
3. Automate the first contact: Use a job bot to conduct the first interview. This lowers the hurdle for an application to a minimum - one click is enough.
4. Pre-qualify smart: Let the bot query the most important knockout criteria (e.g. driver's license, certificates, professional experience). This way, only suitable profiles land on your desk.
5. Focus on interviews: Your recruiters receive a small but fine selection of screened candidates. Their time is not wasted sorting through CVs, but used for valuable interviews.

This process not only helps you to find new staff more quickly, but also makes you a more attractive employer.

With the right strategy, you can turn the skills shortage from a threat into an opportunity to stand out from the competition.