occupation
Labor market: Less unemployment benefit, more Hartz IV
Exterior view of the headquarters of the Federal Employment Agency (BA). The number of unemployed in Germany rose in January, as is usual for the season. Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Even in the omicron wave of the corona pandemic, the German labor market is proving to be robust. The number of unemployed rose in January – but not as much as usual at this time of year.
The German labor market has largely digested the Corona crisis. In January 2022 there are fewer people receiving unemployment benefits than before the crisis. The number of people in work has even increased significantly since the beginning of the crisis.
The usual seasonal increase in unemployment in January was moderate. “This year, the increase in unemployment is particularly low,” said Daniel Terzenbach, member of the board of the Nuremberg Federal Employment Agency, on Tuesday when the January statistics were presented.
2.462 million people were registered as unemployed in January. That is 133,000 more than in December 2021. Due to weather-related failures in construction, holidays in HR departments and other influences, the increase in January is usually around 200,000. “It is the smallest increase that we have measured statistically so far,” said Terzenbach. “This is probably also due to the fact that employers want to keep their employees in the company more in view of the impending shortage of skilled workers,” he said.
Long-term unemployed and Hartz IV
The number of unemployed in January is 439,000 below the January figure of 2021 and only 37,000 above the value of 2020, when the Corona crisis had no impact. The more unemployed compared to 2020 will be provided by the long-term unemployed in the basic security (Hartz IV). Their number is still just under a million – ballast from the Corona crisis that the employment agencies are finding it difficult to get rid of. “A drop of bitterness is the slight increase in the long-term unemployed, who are feeling the effects of the Corona crisis the most,” said Rolf Schmachtenberg, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labor.
The lack of skilled workers is becoming more and more of a problem in the labor market in Germany. “In particular, the transport and logistics areas, sales, medical health professions, but also parts of the metal and mechanical engineering are looking for new employees,” said Terzenbach. “The number of reported vacancies is also so high because skilled workers are rare and the filling processes take longer,” he emphasized.
uncertainties in the hospitality industry
The demand for short-time work has increased significantly again. “There are increased uncertainties in the hospitality industry and in retail,” emphasized Terzenbach. According to current data, companies reported short-time work for 286,000 people from January 1st to January 26th inclusive, more than half from trade and gastronomy. Experience has shown that less short-time work is actually used than is shown.
With regard to the discussion about an impending vaccination obligation for members of health care facilities, Terzenbach said that it was also noticeable that more people than usual from this sector were at risk of unemployment. However, the number of job seekers – i.e. people who have already reported impending unemployment – is not alarmingly high.
“We’re already seeing an increase, but overall at a level that doesn’t have to worry us all,” he emphasized. He spoke of around 25,000 people from the entire health and social sector in December 2021 and January 2022 who reported looking for work above the usual level, around 12,000 of them from care. One can only speculate about the motives.
Low monthly value
Actual data is only available up to November. In November 2021, short-time work benefits were paid for 574,000 people, said Terzenbach. This is the lowest monthly value since the beginning of the Corona crisis. At the peak of the pandemic, the Federal Employment Agency paid this aid to almost six million people in April 2020.
Terzenbach called on young people who have not yet started their training to get in touch with the careers advisors at the employment agencies. “We see that due to the corona, there are significantly fewer applicants than before the crisis,” he said. In the post-placement period from October to January, 67,000 applicants reported, almost 10,000 fewer than in the previous year, which was already affected by Corona. They faced over 77,000 training positions. For the coming training year 2021/22, there are indications that the number of applicants will be even lower.