labour market
Around 46 billion euros in costs for short-time work
According to the forecast by the Federal Employment Agency, around 300,000 people will be on short-time work on average in 2022. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Short-time work benefits kept many afloat during the Corona crisis – and, according to the Federal Employment Agency, caused high costs. However, the number of applications was recently smaller than expected.
The Federal Employment Agency estimates the expected total costs of corona-related short-time work at 46 billion euros.
“Short-time work has cost us around 42 billion euros since the beginning of 2020, when the Corona crisis broke out. Should the crisis come to an end this year, it might have been 46 billion euros in the end – but that’s money well spent,” said agency boss Detlef Scheele of the “Rheinische Post”. “The increase in unemployment would have been up to three times more expensive.”
Less short-time work than expected
The numbers for short-time work were not as high as the federal agency had forecast at the beginning of the fourth corona wave in November, said Scheele. There have been 25,000 ads in each of the past two months. “On an annual average, we are heading for a good 300,000 people on short-time work,” Scheele confirmed previous forecasts. At the end of the year, however, the federal agency’s deficit will exceed the sum of one billion euros.
According to information from the end of January, the Corona crisis has cost the Federal Agency a total of around 52 billion euros. According to her CFO Christiane Schönefeld, it will take her a long time to build up a reserve to fight off the crisis after the Corona years. In the 2022 budget there is still a gap of 1.3 billion euros, she said at the end of January. Money can be saved again from 2023 at the earliest.