Data suggest that the transition from minijobs to standard, fully insured employment is becoming increasingly difficult for recipients of basic welfare benefits. According to figures published by the Federal government, and reported by “Bild”, the number of successful transitions has dropped significantly. In 2017, 102,084 minijob workers were successfully placed into insured jobs. However, by September of the previous year, only 50,831 such cases were recorded-a number that, when extrapolated, suggests a decline to approximately 67,775. The decline is also visible when looking at full-time positions, which halved from 33,953 to 16,315 cases, representing an estimated 21,753 movements.
These trends are starkly evident in the conversion rate. In 2017, 27.1 percent of minijob workers promoted to regular employment (102,084 out of 376,292 average annual figures). By September of the recent year, this rate had dropped to just 18.6 percent (50,831 out of 273,911).
Social politician and CSU Bundestag representative Hülya Düber stated that fewer people leaving basic security support are entering permanent jobs, indicating that “the incentives within the system are not yet right”. She emphasized that often, working does not feel worthwhile, arguing that the goal must be to make work feel substantially rewarding and to make the step into regular employment more attractive.
Meanwhile, AfD Bundestag representative Jan Feser, who requested the data, told the newspaper that the Federal Employment Agency is mostly managing unemployment rather than effectively ending it. He claimed that minijobs are often becoming a source of vulnerability rather than serving as a bridge toward actual employment. The Federal Employment Agency, however, rejected these criticisms, attributing the situation instead to the overall weak labor market.