There is no general shortage in qualified labour in Germany. But analysis by the Federal Agency for Employment show that in some segments of the German labour market there is a shortage of qualified labour at the given demand level. Until now there are mostly survey based studies that investigate management strategies and intentions to tackle labour shortages. But further reactions are conceivable such as wage increases, investments into labour saving technologies or off-shoring. For this reason we aim at investigating firm reactions to labour shortages as comprehensively as possible. On one hand, we go beyond intended strategies and cover real changes in HRM policies, on the other we cover further channels such as wage increases, the change in working time schemes but also downgrading in qualification requirements for successful job candidates. Finally, investment behavior, job growth, profitability and competitiveness of firms could be affected by labour shortages, too.