Status: 11/18/2021 10:18 a.m.
The corona pandemic has so far caused costs of 52 billion euros at the Federal Employment Agency. This means that your reserves have almost been used up.
The Federal Employment Agency has so far spent around 52 billion euros during the corona pandemic. The majority of the expenditure was accounted for by the financing of short-time working allowance in the pandemic years 2020 and 2021 with around 24 billion euros. The costs for social benefits and the pandemic-related unemployment benefits were immense, said Christiane Schönefeld, member of the board of the Federal Employment Agency.
In order to finance the expenses, the reserve of the federal agency in the amount of around 26 billion euros was almost completely used up, said Schönefeld. The federal government had supported the agency to finance the consequences of the corona with around 24 billion euros.
Agency needs support also in the coming year
The authority expects to be dependent on support from the federal government in the coming year and is hoping for a subsidy of around one billion euros. Last week, she put her projected expenditure for 2022 at 38 billion euros, with income of 37 billion euros.
The prerequisite for this, however, is that there is no further lockdown, according to Schönfeld: Another widespread closure could lead to a new wave of short-time working and thus widen the gap in the household.
Financing from premium income
The Federal Agency’s expenses are normally financed entirely from premium income, but the pandemic resulted in significant additional expenses. The agency hopes to return to pre-crisis spending in the coming year.