Germany therefore needs to act now. One path would be to increase labour force participation. And there are indeed labour force reserves, particularly among women and the elderly. Germany needs to go to great lengths to integrate them more closely into the economic process. But there is an additional option to address demographic challenges: immigration.
A systematic approach to attract skilled labour from abroad would help cushion the impact of an ageing society on the labour market. In any case, Germany has to accept that fewer workers might be at its disposal in the future. Thus, it will be all the more important for those workers to be trained as well as possible.