Leadership shortage in the German Mittelstand: succession is the real bottleneck
Published on 15 January 2026 · 5 min read
The Mittelstand loves to talk about skilled workers. The hard numbers show that leadership succession — from team lead to managing director — is becoming the true bottleneck, and it decides growth, handovers and investment capacity.
What the KfW panel shows
The KfW Mittelstand panel has for years shown a growing share of mid-market firms unable to find a successor or postponing succession projects. DIHK barometer surveys confirm: skills and leadership shortages jointly brake investment and digitalisation.
The Stifterverband / McKinsey Future Skills report adds that new leadership skills (digital, cross-cultural, hybrid teams) are insufficiently represented in the current talent pool.
What companies can do now
First: succession mapping. Do you know across the top two management layers who will leave or pause in the next three years? Second: combine internal candidates with external inflow — pure internal succession reproduces existing patterns. Third: use interim leadership strategically, not as an emergency measure.
Leadership succession is not an HR side topic — it is CEO business.
What this means for your business
Treat leadership succession as a strategic project with calendar, owner and budget — not as an HR task that runs on the side.
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Sources
- 01KfW-Mittelstandspanel (jährliche Ausgabe)kfw.de
- 02Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag (DIHK) — Unternehmensbarometer Fachkräftedihk.de
- 03Stifterverband / McKinsey — Future Skills Report (laufend)stifterverband.org
All statements are backed by publicly available sources (see article date). Not legal or tax advice.