Billions for Corona short-time work - but another scenario could have been even more expensive

Created: 2022-02-19Updated: 2022-02-19, 2:50 p.m

Two pens lie on an application form for short-time work benefits.

© Jens Büttner/dpa

The Corona crisis has also left its mark on the economy.

Short-time work has helped in many sectors.

The Federal Employment Agency is now giving figures on the costs.

Nuremberg – 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

.

"The rise in unemployment would have been up to three times more expensive."

Corona in Germany: "On an annual average, we are heading for a good 300,000 people on short-time work"

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.

Video: How often are employers allowed to send employees on short-time work?

Short-time work due to Corona in Germany - gap in the household

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, she will need 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.