For the third consecutive time, both medium-sized and non-owner-managed companies cited the shortage of skilled workers as their biggest challenge. The current survey also shows that the dominance of "competitive pressure" as a challenge. The main reasons for this are high energy prices, but also rising wage, material and production costs, which are all the more significant the worse the earnings situation of companies are. Compared to previous surveys, significantly more entrepreneurs were disenchanted with politics: almost ten percent of companies expressed negative views about political decisions. Bureaucracy, in particular, remains an "agitation issue".