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Melting furnace in Mühlheim an der Ruhr
Photo: IMAGO/Christoph Hardt / IMAGO/Panama Pictures
The energy crisis has not only halted the decline in short-time work in Germany – it has even triggered a sharp increase.
According to an estimate by the Ifo Institute, the number of short-time workers rose significantly in November, doubling within a month, according to the Munich Economic Institute.
At the end of October, only 76,000 employees were still on short-time work, while at the end of November it was already 187,000.
In particular, energy-intensive sectors and the automotive industry "are increasingly resorting to short-time work again," says Ifo scientist Sebastian Link.
This is the result of weaker production in these areas.
In the auto industry, the number of short-time workers rose from 14,000 to more than 33,000.
The chemical industry, which was particularly badly hit by Russia's gas supply freeze, even reports a tripling of the previous 7,400 to 21,000 short-time workers.
No comparison to the corona crisis
At Germany's car manufacturers, 3.5 percent of all employees were on short-time work, in the chemical industry it was 2.6 percent.
However, the textile, leather and paper sector is proportionally most affected, with 4.2 percent short-time workers.
An increase in the number of short-time workers is considered an indicator of a deterioration in the economic situation.
Currently, however, this increase is still taking place at a relatively low level.
During the economic crisis triggered by the corona lockdowns, the proportion of short-time workers was significantly higher.
In April 2020, around 6 million employees were on short-time work.
At the time, this corresponded to 17.8 percent of all employees subject to social security contributions in Germany.
A year ago, in November 2021, the number of short-time workers was 750,000, significantly higher than at present (you can find the exact figures here).
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