As of: January 31, 2024, 1:59 p.m
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A sign for the Federal Employment Agency: There is a shortage of workers everywhere.
© Jens Büttner/dpa
Unemployment has risen again.
This is normal for the time of year.
But one trend stands out: the workforce potential in Germany can no longer meet the needs of companies.
Nuremberg - About 113,000 from Ukraine, 123,000 from India, 567,000 from Turkey.
The German labor market would have collapsed long ago without workers from third countries.
In 2023, people from outside the European Union were the largest group of those who took a job in Germany, said the CEO of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles, in Nuremberg.
Nevertheless, almost 700,000 positions are still unfilled.
From June 2022 to June 2023, a total of 53,000 people from Ukraine alone took up employment subject to social security contributions in Germany.
From India there were 24,000 in the same period.
“According to our forecast, this will increase in the future,” said Nahles.
The background is simply demographics.
The baby boomers are starting to retire.
There is a shortage of workers everywhere.
And for those who already live in Germany - whether as natives or immigrants - and do not currently have a job, the search becomes more difficult.
They are often too old or too poorly trained.
In addition, fewer and fewer people are coming to Germany from EU accession states such as Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.
The countries themselves now have demographic problems.
Number of unemployed increased seasonally
Not much happened on the German labor market in January.
The number of unemployed rose to 2.805 million, as is usual for the season.
That is 169,000 more than in December 2023 and 189,000 more than in January last year, as the Federal Agency announced.
The unemployment rate rose by 0.4 points to 6.1 percent.
For its January statistics, the Federal Agency used data that was available up to the 15th of the month.
“The annual increase in unemployment at the turn of the year is lower this year.
Employment and demand for labor are also consistent, so that the labor market is stable at the beginning of the year despite the ongoing economic weakness,” said Nahles.
With this comparison, she was referring to the years before the corona pandemic, when unemployment usually rose by around 200,000 people in January.
The increase was smaller in the Corona years.
Chances for the unemployed to find a new job are becoming smaller
Although the labor market is heavily dependent on immigrants and the number of long-term unemployed is still significantly higher than before the pandemic years at almost one million (960,000), the chances for the unemployed to find a new job are becoming smaller.
According to the Federal Agency, 699,000 jobs were reported as open in January.
That's 66,000 fewer than a year ago.
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The situation on the training market remains difficult.
Many apprenticeships offered by companies cannot be filled.
According to the information, in the so-called post-placement period from October 2023 to January 2024, there were 64,000 more young people looking for training than in the previous year.
This compares to 85,000 registered training positions in companies, almost 4,000 more than in the previous year.
According to the BA, 28,000 applicants were still unavailable in January 2024 and a further 18,000 were still looking for a training position despite an alternative.
At the same time, 18,000 training positions were still unfilled.
dpa