Status: 06.05.2022 10:25 a.m
According to the Ifo Institute, the number of short-time workers in Germany fell sharply in April. The easing of the corona measures contributed to the relaxation.
According to calculations by the ifo Institute, 426,000 people in Germany were on short-time work in April – that was 270,000 fewer than in March, as the institute announced as the result of a company survey. Accordingly, 1.3 percent of employees are still on short-time work.
“The most significant declines were again in the contact-intensive sectors, which continue to recover from Corona,” said Ifo expert Stefan Sauer. “In the hospitality industry, the number has more than halved.” There was also a significant decline in the transport industry. “And even in industry, the numbers decreased, despite the supply bottlenecks,” said Sauer. These have been hampering production in many companies for months.
In the hospitality industry, the number fell from 196,000 to 90,000. Short-time work also fell in retail: from 44,000 to 35,000. The industry as a whole reduced the number from 179,000 to 135,000, in the auto industry it fell from 59,000 to 41,000.
Still significantly more than before the pandemic
Immediately before the start of the corona pandemic, the number of short-time workers in February 2020 was 134,000. It had jumped to 2.6 million the following March before hitting a record six million in April 2020, well above the previous peak of 1.5 million during the global financial and economic crisis.