Economic expert Veronika Grimm expects a further decline in job numbers in Germany. “Many companies have held on to their employees so far, as they feared they might not find new ones due to the shortage of skilled workers, even with higher utilization” she said to the Funke Media Group’s weekend editions. “But this won’t go on for much longer.”
At the same time, Grimm, a member of the Council of Economic Experts and a board member at Siemens Energy, criticized the recent extension of the short-time work allowance by the federal government. “Many companies will have to face the structural change sooner or later. So, the extension of the short-time work allowance is actually not a sensible measure” the economist explained.
She described the current labor market situation as “difficult”. “Many companies are not utilizing their production capacities at the moment. The utilization rate in the traditionally strong manufacturing industry is historically low, around 75 percent” Grimm said.
In December, the unemployment rate, according to the latest figures from the German Federal Agency for Work, had risen to 6.0 percent. Currently, 2,807 million people are unemployed, which is 170,000 more than in December 2023 and 33,000 more than in November 2024, 0.1 percent more.