Labor Market

Germany’s labor market has seen positive development in recent years. Other European countries are struggling with youth unemployment and the emigration of young people. In Germany, comprehensive reforms made it possible to greatly reduce the mass unemployment of the 1990s and to integrate immigrants into the labor market.

Arbeiten in der Industrie
Arbeiten in der Industrie

But new challenges are just around the corner. Digitalization will change how industry adds value and thus also the world of work. Can workers adapt their qualifications quickly enough to the new requirements? How should politics react to the accelerated pace of technological change? These are questions currently facing Industry 4.0. In addition, ifo’s economists are concerned with the general functioning of labor markets. How can low-skilled workers be better integrated into the labor market? When do minimum wages help or harm the functioning of markets? How can the economy cope with the intensification of labor shortages in the light of demographic change?

“Education policy is essential to the long-term development of the labor market – given shortages of highly qualified staff and problems placing low-skilled workers.””

Prof. Dr. Marcel Thum, Director of ifo Dresden

Video —

ifo Podcast: Home Office in Times of Pandemic

Millions of employees have been working from home for more than a year. Digitization has received an enormous boost in this way. However, the potential is far from exhausted. In January 2021, the German government introduced a home office obligation for companies in order to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. Will the home office become the new normal even beyond the pandemic?

Contact
Portraitbild Prof. Marcel Thum

Prof. Dr. Marcel Thum

Director ifo Dresden
Tel
+49(0)351/26476-19
Fax
+49(0)351/26476-20
Mail
thum@ifo.de