As of: February 27, 2024, 4:29 p.m
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Jobs at risk?
This applies more to some industries than to others.
© dpa
The poor economy in Germany is causing companies to hire fewer new staff.
In some sectors, however, every worker is still desperately needed.
Berlin - Because of the poor economy, companies in Germany want to hire fewer staff than they have in three years.
The employment barometer fell to 94.9 points in February, after 95.5 points in January, as the Munich Ifo Institute announced on Tuesday in its survey of thousands of companies.
This is the lowest level since February 2021, when the corona pandemic kept the economy under control.
“The weak economic development is making companies hesitant about hiring new employees,” said the head of the Ifo surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe, commenting on the development.
“The loss of jobs is no longer ruled out.”
The leading indicator from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) rose by 0.5 points to 98.0 points in February.
This indicated a slight easing but still rising unemployment.
There is still a risk that unemployment will become more entrenched, it said.
The component predicting employment also weakened by 0.6 points to 102.5 points.
“Even in a downturn, workers are scarce in many areas,” said IAB expert Enzo Weber.
“That already limits the possible increases in employment.”
There is still a high demand for consultants and IT service providers
According to the Ifo Institute, there are still signs of workforce reductions in the export-heavy industry.
“This development applies to almost all industries, including retail,” it said.
The weak consumption development is therefore particularly a problem for stationary retail.
Current business should therefore be managed with fewer staff.
According to the Ifo Institute, the difficult situation in construction, which is suffering from increased material and interest costs, is also reflected in employee development.
“In the service sector, the barometer is still slightly positive, but the pace of hiring has weakened significantly,” say the researchers.
However, the willingness to hire IT service providers and consultants remains unbroken.
Europe's largest economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
If there is another minus in the current quarter, it is referred to as a technical recession.
According to the Bundesbank's forecast, this is also a threat due to the increasing number of strikes - for example in rail and air transport.
(Reuters, lf)