FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - German mechanical and plant engineering companies are even more cautious about the German economy than they were in the middle of the year. Other concerns include a shortage of skilled workers, cost pressures and the regulatory environment. This is shown by the current mechanical engineering barometer of the auditing and consulting firm PwC Germany, which is exclusively available to the financial news agency dpa-AFX.

According to the study, more than half (54 percent) of the 150 companies surveyed now believe that the German economy will develop negatively. However, companies are not quite as skeptical about the global economy: less than one-third believe in a worldwide downturn. However, here, too, expectations have worsened.

On average, the companies surveyed expect industry sales to decline by 1.6 percent in the current year - an even greater drop than recently assumed.

However, the authors of the study write that the outlook for the development of the respondents' own companies remains a glimmer of hope. Here, they are more optimistic than in the perception of the industry as a whole and expect growth of 2.6 percent on average.

In addition to the bleak growth expectations, there are also cost concerns. Almost half of the companies believe that overall costs will continue to rise, the survey added.

According to the survey, the main obstacles to growth for German machinery and plant manufacturers, in addition to cost pressure, are the shortage of skilled workers, political developments abroad and the difficult regulatory environment.

"Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing an intertwining of unfavorable factors that reinforce each other," said Bernd Jung, leader of the Industrial Manufacturing practice group at PwC Germany. "In particular, the frequent mention of the difficult regulatory environment should give pause for thought." After all, if entrepreneurs feel too restricted in their freedom of action, many of their measures are aimed primarily at securing the status quo. This is then at the expense of innovation, for example.

With a view to the shortage of skilled workers, companies certainly want to take countermeasures. Four out of ten respondents plan to increase the number of full-time employees in the next twelve months. However, the majority (57 percent) would like to keep staffing levels unchanged. In view of demographic and economic developments, this alone is likely to be a challenge, according to the study. Digitalization and automation alone cannot solve the shortage of skilled workers, said Jung.

PwC's Mechanical Engineering Barometer is the result of a quarterly panel survey of executives in the German mechanical and plant engineering sector. In addition to an assessment of general economic development, the survey reflects company expectations with regard to key indicators such as costs, prices and investment volumes. The survey period of the current barometer was August 17 to September 22./lfi/mis/men/he