Overview

• Handwerksbetriebe give themselves an average digitalization grade of 3.0, with about 9% rating their status as poor or very poor.
• AI adoption remains rare at 4%, a further 9% are planning use, only 29% have staff who can handle AI, and 52% worry software could soon dictate work methods.
• Basic tools are widespread as email and smartphones are universal, 62% use messenger apps, more than half use cloud services, 36% hold online meetings, and 28% use platforms like Teams or Slack or run customer/employee portals.
• A quarter of firms still communicate by fax, and fewer than half offer online appointment booking, underscoring uneven modernization.
• Key barriers cited include high investment costs (69%), concerns over data protection and IT security (96%), and a lack of employee digital skills (58%), even as 54% tap apprentices for digital tasks and 44% use tech to attract trainees.