According to the findings of the Ifo Institute, the number of employees on short-time work in Germany has increased significantly. In December it rose to 879,000, as the Munich economic researchers announced on Wednesday. In November the number had stood at 712,000. This increased the proportion of short-time workers from 2.1 percent to 2.6 percent of the workforce.
According to the institute, the hospitality industry recorded an increase from 75,000 to 126,000. In retail, the number rose from 23,000 to 53,000. Short-time working is particularly widespread in the automotive industry with 17.6 percent or 166,000 employees. In industry as a whole, the number rose from 381,000 to 390,000 employees (5.6 percent). “This is a consequence of the increasing supply bottlenecks,” said Ifo researcher Sebastian Link.
Before the pandemic, the number of short-time workers was 134,000 in February 2020, jumped to 2.6 million in March and hit a record 6 million in April 2020. (dpa)