Part-time quota in Germany reaches new record level

Berlin. In the midst of the debate about structural reforms and longer working hours, the proportion of part-time employees in Germany has reached a record. The part-time rate climbed to 40.3 percent in the second quarter, as the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) announced on Tuesday. The number of part-time employees rose by 0.5 percent within a year, while the number of full-time employees fell by 0.9 percent. Overall, the number of employed people fell by 0.5 percent to just under 45.7 million people.

The IAB cited the reasons for the development as, on the one hand, the increase in employment in sectors with a high proportion of part-time work, such as health and social services as well as education and teaching. On the other hand, there are job cuts in sectors with many full-time positions, especially in the manufacturing sector. “The economy has strengthened recently, so the working hours of employees are increasing somewhat again,” explained Enzo Weber, head of the IAB research department “Forecasts and Macroeconomic Analyzes”. “But the industry in crisis is losing many full-time positions, so fewer hours were worked overall.”