"A situation that puts everything in the shade": The head of the Freising Employment Agency draws a corona balance sheet.
It turns out bitter.
On March 22nd, a year ago, the lockdown brought public life in the Freising district to a standstill.
Shortly afterwards, unemployment skyrocketed.
Never before have so many people been on short-time work.
District
- It is March 22, 2020 on which the corona pandemic will bring public life to a standstill: The first lockdown will come into force, contact bans apply, restaurants and shops have to close.
“The effects of the pandemic in spring 2020 were immediately felt on the regional labor market.
Almost all branches of the economy and groups of people were affected, ”says Nikolaus Windisch, head of the Freising Employment Agency.
“We had a situation almost overnight in terms of unemployment and short-time work, the dimensions of which eclipsed everything that we had known from crises up to now.
And an end is not really in sight so far. "
Unemployment is increasing extremely
It is the sudden rise in unemployment that illustrates the beginning of the pandemic: From March to April 2020, the number of unemployed in the districts of Freising, Erding, Dachau and Ebersberg rose from 7,379 to 9,335 people.
The unemployment rate rose from two percent in March to 2.6 percent in April 2020 - and rose to a value of three percent by August 2020.
The easing in summer and autumn then led to a slight recovery in the labor market.
The second lockdown, together with the seasonal winter unemployment, caused the rate to rise again: In February 2021, an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent was calculated for the agency district.
In February of the previous year this was still 2.2 percent.
A total of 11 506 people were looking for a new job in February 2021, 3495 women and men more than twelve months earlier.
The demand for personnel collapses significantly
Unemployment rose and the demand for staff plummeted: If there were 4,739 job offers in the job pool of the Employment Agency in February 2020, in February 2021 there were 1064 fewer jobs, reports the employment agency.
This corresponds to a decrease of minus 22.5 percent.
"The subdued demand for personnel is an effect of the pandemic that could keep us busy for a longer period of time: Many companies will first reduce or end short-time working as required before they think about new hires," explains Nikolaus Windisch.
There is some hope that the demand for workers has recently increased again - the employers reported a total of 898 new positions to be filled in the four districts in February 2021, which was 223 more than at the beginning of 2021 (plus 33 percent) .
Short-time work supports the labor market
The massive use of short-time working - including in the areas of transport and storage, in trade and in the hospitality industry - has stabilized the labor market in recent months.
In this way, layoffs could be avoided in many cases.
In the months of March 2020 to February 2021, as a precautionary measure, the Freising Employment Agency received notifications from around 7,880 companies regarding short-time work benefits for around 107,850 employees.
The detailed evaluations of the short-time work that has been implemented show that at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 in the districts of Freising, Erding, Dachau and Ebersberg, there were actually short-time work in 1918 companies.
16,310 men and women were affected.
The number of short-time workers reached its highest level to date in April 2020. At that time, 4063 companies in the agency district actually had short-time work.
47,344 employees were affected.
The latest available figures on short-time work are from October 2020: In the autumn month, 1,812 companies actually had short-time work.
A total of 23,291 employees were affected.
The training market for young people is a bright spot
Today's trainees are tomorrow's coveted specialists - Corona or not.
The regional companies also know this and are committed to their high level of willingness to provide training.
Contrary to the trend across Bavaria and Germany, the number of apprenticeships registered between October 2020 and February 2021 in the Freising Employment Agency district even increased slightly compared to the same period in the previous year (plus 20 positions).
The young people were most recently able to choose from 2327 training positions registered with the regional employment agencies.
"The numbers are currently comparatively good," explains Nikolaus Windisch.
“Young people who do not yet have any professional or school prospects for autumn should seek advice now.” Young people from the districts of Dachau, Ebersberg, Erding and Freising can call (0 81 61) 1 71-510 for career advice Sign in.
The discussions take place by telephone or via video communication.
Agency boss advises unemployed people to "stay on the ball"
How the situation on the labor market will develop in the next few months is difficult to predict, as this will depend heavily on the development of the pandemic.
In autumn 2020, the Institute for Employment Research forecast that in the districts of Dachau, Ebersberg, Erding and Freising, an average of 11,000 men and women will be unemployed in 2021.
"For everyone affected by the crisis, it is very important to stay on the ball, not to give up, to develop new perspectives," emphasizes Nikolaus Windisch.
“Times of unemployment can be used, for example, for qualifications.
The employment agencies also support professional training during short-time work. "
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