German employees third-most likely in Europe to be looking for new job

The annual State of the Global Workplace report from Gallup has found that many employees in Germany are itching to leave their jobs, and think that it's a good time to do so.

39 percent of employees in Germany are looking for a new job

Gathering responses face-to-face or by telephone from 227.347 employees in over 160 countries between April and December 2024, Gallup’s most recent annual State of Global Workplace report has found that employees in Germany are equally bored at work as they were in 2023.

According to Gallup’s findings, 39 percent of people who work in Germany are looking to resign, the same percentage as in the 2024 survey. 72 percent of employees in Germany also agreed that “thinking of the job situation in the city or area where [they] live”, it was a “good time” to find a job.

Germany is currently witnessing a record-high worker shortage and urgently needs to welcome more migrant workers to plug the gaps. Despite this, the country’s ailing economy is also having adverse effects on the labour market. 

According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), roughly 1,64 million people were unemployed in March 2025. This amounts to 3,7 percent of the population, the highest level since December 2015, outside of the coronavirus pandemic.

How do employees in Germany feel at work?

The Gallup survey also asked respondents about their feelings during daily work, including how stressed, angry, lonely or sad they felt. 

Asked whether they felt stressed during “a lot of the day”, 41 percent of respondents said yes. Of the 38 European countries, German employees were the 14th-most stressed on the continent, sandwiched between the UK and Iceland. 

Employees in Northern Cyprus, Greece and Malta reported being the most stressed and those in Lithuania, Poland and Denmark, the least stressed.

Fewer employees in Germany said they felt angry, lonely or sad “a lot of the day”. Just 14 percent reported daily anger at work, 18 percent reported daily sadness, and 12 percent reported daily loneliness.

Looking at what keeps employees feeling happy and engaged at work, Gallup found that relationships between employees and managers were the most important factor. “If managers are disengaged, their teams are too,” the report read.