ifo Institute: German Short-Time Work Cuts Working Hours by 43 Percent

Short-time workers in Germany are experiencing a 43 percent shortfall in their working hours on average. In other words, they are working just 57 percent of their normal hours. For employees subject to social insurance contributions, this translates to a 7 percent loss in working hours, because 17 percent of this group are on short-time work. This is according to exclusive estimates by the ifo Institute for the month of July based on responses to its Business Survey. “The loss of working hours due to short-time work is considerable and shows that, for many sectors of the German economy, a return to normality is still a long way off,” says ifo labor market expert Sebastian Link.

In the hospitality industry, the estimated industry-wide loss of working hours is as high as 25 percent, because the 42 percent of employees on short-time work have had their hours cut by as much as 54 percent on average. Similarly in industry, the shortfall is disproportionately high at 10 percent, as the 33 percent of the workforce on short-time work have lost an average of 30 percent of their hours.

At 16 percent, the shortfall is very high in the metal industry, where the 45 percent on short-time work have had their hours cut by 34 percent on average. In the automotive industry, 14 percent of working hours are lost because the 38 percent on short-time work are working roughly 37 percent fewer hours; the shortfall in mechanical engineering is 12 percent because the 35 percent on short-time work have lost around 30 percent of working hours; and the electrical industry has a 10 percent shortfall because the 34 percent on short-time work there have lost 31 percent of their working hours.

The shortfall is also high (16 percent) in administrative and support service activities, as the 26 percent on short-time work there have experienced a particularly heavy loss in working hours of 58 percent.
Some 11 million working people in Germany are not eligible for short-time work because they are self-employed, civil servants, or hold marginal part-time jobs.