Short-Time Work in Germany Increases Again in February

The number of short-time workers in Germany rose by more than 100,000 in February. According to estimates by the ifo Institute, 2.8 million people were on short-time work, up from 2.7 million (*) in January. That represents 8.5 percent of employees subject to social insurance contributions, up from 8.1 percent in January. “It’s a mixed picture: while short-time work increased overall, particularly in hotels and restaurants and in retail, it declined in industry,” says ifo labor market expert Sebastian Link.

Hotels and restaurants continue to have the most short-time workers at 56.8 percent, up from 55.1 percent, or 604,000 employees, up from 585,000. In retail, the proportion of employees on short-time work is likely to be at its highest since May last year: 14.8 percent, up from 13.5 percent, or 675,000 people, up from 614,000. At this time, companies affected by the lockdown in retail (16.8 percent) and motor vehicle sales (14.9 percent) are still making greater use of short-time work. In transportation and storage, short-time work is likely to have increased to 9.6 percent of the workforce, up from 8.4 percent. Among the other service providers, the number of short-time workers is likely to have remained roughly the same in February.

In contrast, industry saw a significant drop in short-time work to 7.4 percent, or 514,000 people, from 8.1 percent, or 560,000 people. This means the proportion of employees on short-time work in industry is likely to have fallen steadily since April 2020, and is now even below the average for the economy as a whole.

(* Changed figure; the original ifo estimate for January was 2.6 million short-time workers)