ifo Institute: Short-Time Work Being Scaled Back Only Gradually in Germany
The number of companies with coronavirus-related short-time work in Germany is falling – albeit slowly. In July, 42 percent of the companies participating in the ifo Business Survey were still making use of short-time work. This figure was 46 percent in June and as high as 53 percent in May. “Short-time work is being reduced only very gradually,” says ifo labor market expert Sebastian Link. Manufacturing was still out in front in July with 57 percent of companies reporting short-time work, after 64 percent in May and in June.
In the service sector, 39 percent of companies were still making use of short-time work in July; it was 47 percent in June and as high as 48 percent in May. In trade, the figure was 31 percent in July, after 29 percent in June and 55 percent of companies in May.
Construction was relatively unaffected, with just 11 percent of companies reporting short-time work in July, down from 25 percent in June and 32 percent in May.
The averages for the major sectors of the economy hide large differences between individual industries. This can be seen in manufacturing: while the average figure is 57 percent, a full 80.8 percent of manufacturers of basic metals were still on short-time work in July. The figure is 78.3 percent for manufacturers of wearing apparel and 72.1 percent for manufacturers of metal products. In the automotive industry, the share was 67.7 percent, compared to just 33.2 percent in the chemical industry, 16.7 percent in the food industry, and 0.6 percent in the pharmaceutical industry.
Still heavily affected in July were travel agencies and tour operators with 89.2 percent, hotels with 83.3 percent, creative and arts professions with 81.4 percent, employment agencies with 80.6 percent, and food and beverage services with 73.9 percent. There was particularly little short-time work in July at financial and insurance service providers with 6.4 percent, in real estate with 6.2 percent, and in telecommunications with 6.1 percent.
