Digitization boost from Corona

The corona pandemic is hitting German industry with full force, but at the same time is leading to a digitization push in companies. Four out of ten (42 percent) industrial companies with 100 or more employees say they have come through the corona period very badly so far, and around one in four (23 percent) rather badly.

At the same time, 95 percent say that in the wake of the corona pandemic, digitization has become more important in their company. Six out of ten industrial companies (63 percent) say that digital technologies are helping them to cope with the corona pandemic. And three-quarters (77 percent) have found that companies whose business model is already digitized are coming through the crisis better.

These are the findings of a representative study on the digitization of German industry commissioned by the digital association Bitkom, for which 551 industrial companies with 100 or more employees were surveyed in February and March 2021. Industry 4.0 is now an issue for all major industrial companies.

Almost two-thirds (62 percent) are already using special applications such as networked production plants, real-time communication between machines or intelligent robots. This is a slight increase on the previous year (59 percent); three years ago, the proportion was just 49 percent.

One in five (21 percent) is currently planning to use Industrie 4.0. A further 16 percent are not yet taking any concrete steps, but can imagine doing so in the future. For the first time, no larger industrial company states that Industry 4.0 is not an issue. At the same time, Industry 4.0 will also change work in factories.

Six out of ten companies (57 percent) expect new jobs to be created for well-trained specialists. At the same time, however, around two-thirds (68 percent) expect jobs for low-skilled workers to disappear. Industry is already preparing for this change. Likewise, around two-thirds (68 percent) of industrial companies are already investing in employee training for Industry 4.0.