ifo Employment Barometer Falls (January 2024)
Companies in Germany have become less willing to hire new staff. The ifo Employment Barometer fell to 95.5 points in January, down from 96.5 points in December. “The difficult economic situation is now also being reflected in personnel planning,” says Klaus Wohlrabe, Head of Surveys at ifo. “Companies are rather reluctant to hire new staff. An initial round of layoffs is becoming more likely.”
Manufacturers are still assuming that their headcount will decline. Notwithstanding this, the barometer here crept up slightly, from -13.5 to -13.0. This pessimism extends across almost all industries. More and more trading companies are thinking of laying off staff because customers are staying away. The service sector, too, is becoming less willing to hire. But the bottom line is that they are still looking to recruit staff. This is particularly true for providers of IT and consulting services. In construction, the barometer dropped somewhat. The recession in the construction industry is increasingly leaving its mark on personnel planning.
