Effect of short-time work: monthly earnings of employees fall in the corona crisis

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Employees at the Daimler plant in Sindelfingen: Employers paid less wages in the spring - due to short-time work

Closed shops, idle car factories: the restrictions to contain the corona pandemic partially paralyzed the German economy this spring. Many companies sent their employees on short-time work - and thus saved themselves salary payments. As a result, the average gross monthly earnings of employees in the second quarter fell by 2.2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced.

The official statisticians only take into account amounts paid by employers to their employees in monthly earnings, but without special payments such as vacation pay. The short-time work allowance - which the Federal Employment Agency (BA) reimburses - is also not included. The statistics agency points out that the short-time work allowance "cushioned most of the income losses for the employees". According to the latest extrapolation from the Federal Employment Agency, 6.7 million people were on short-time work in May.

In fact, the decline in wages paid by employers is limited when compared with the development of working hours: In the period from April to June, the weekly paid working hours fell by an average of 4.7 percent, which is considerably more. This means that the gross hourly earnings have increased significantly compared to the previous year, they were 2.6 percent higher than in 2019.

The industries were affected very differently by the corona restrictions - which can be seen in the earnings trend. The gross monthly earnings declined the most with a minus of 18 percent in the accommodation businesses. But they also fell by a similarly strong 17 percent in car production, and 15 percent in travel agencies and tour operators. In all three industries, however, hourly earnings increased by four percent compared to the previous year.

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