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The latest data from the Federal Statistical Office confirms that the German economy contracted by 0.3% in the second quarter of 2025 – a sharper decline than originally expected. This could mean the third consecutive year of recession, a historic low in the post-war period. While factors such as weak industrial and construction output, shrinking consumer spending and US tariffs are contributing to the misery, the available information points to deeper, systemic problems. German Economics Minister Katherina Reiche has called for ‘urgent action’ and ‘bold structural reforms’ to restore the country’s competitiveness.
The AI crisis: repeating the mistakes of digitalisation
The biggest challenges lie in dealing with new technologies. The text provided shows that Germany is repeating the same strategic mistakes it made with digitalisation when introducing artificial intelligence (AI). Instead of seeing AI as a profound change, it is often reduced to an isolated, technical project for the IT department.
The figures speak for themselves:
- The proportion of online job advertisements related to AI has stagnated at just 1.5% of all advertised positions since 2022. By comparison, job advertisements in the energy transition sector rose to 3.8%.
- According to a Bitkom survey, 64% of companies see themselves as laggards when it comes to AI, and 22% believe they have already lost touch.
- Almost 75% of companies say they lack the necessary knowledge to apply AI. Nevertheless, only very few train their employees or hire interdisciplinary AI experts.
This shows that the economic opportunities offered by AI are not yet being exploited in Germany, even though estimates suggest that productivity gains of up to 16% are possible.
Why change management is key
The core of the problem is not technical, but cultural. AI is transforming entire business models and work processes, which presents companies with enormous change challenges. Without professional support, conflicts are inevitable as employee uncertainty increases and fears of job losses arise.
Here are the key findings from the articles that highlight the role of change management:
- From projects to continuous change: AI requires companies to see themselves as continuously changing organisations rather than setting up separate, top-down change management projects. Leadership must promote a shift towards agile structures and self-organised teams.
- The role of HR departments: HR departments must anticipate potential changes at an early stage and develop alternative career paths for employees who are particularly affected. Communication becomes a core task in order to understand fears and expectations and actively involve the workforce.
- Accepting the challenge: The ‘AI Challenge’ is one way to raise employee awareness of AI and empower them to develop their own ideas for its application in their area. Examples such as Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT show how AI is drastically changing the way we work and enabling professionals to do things in minutes that used to require complex IT development.
- AI as a tool for change teams: Generative AI can also support change management teams in their work, for example by creating target group-specific communication materials, automating training concepts or analysing the mood among the workforce in order to identify problems at an early stage.
Conclusion
Germany’s current economic crisis is closely linked to its inability to tackle holistic, cultural and strategic change. The ‘Made in Germany’ mentality of perfection and optimisation prevents companies from having the courage to radically reinvent themselves. To break the downward spiral, the German economy must view AI not as an isolated tool, but as a profound transformation that can only succeed through a changed corporate culture, qualified employees and strategic change management. Otherwise, Germany risks losing its international competitiveness for good.
Ressources: https://apnews.com/article/ed5a0ca6732d3cf92828e045144defc2?utm_source=chatgpt.com
