"While the Federal Government is working on an industrial concept, it is forgetting the concrete concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises. That is causing material problems," so Ingeborg Neumann, Ppresident of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry, in the guest commentary of German national newspaper Handelsblatt.

The East German textile industry is particularly affected by the shortage of skilled workers. Companies are therefore stepping up their efforts to recruit suitable foreign employees.