DON’T MISS
IamExpat FairIamExpat Job BoardIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Career
German news & articles
Study: Germany's Kurzarbeit scheme saved 2,2 million jobs
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

Study: Germany's Kurzarbeit scheme saved 2,2 million jobs

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:



Related Stories

October 2022: 12 changes affecting expats in GermanyOctober 2022: 12 changes affecting expats in Germany
September 2022: 9 changes affecting expats in GermanySeptember 2022: 9 changes affecting expats in Germany
July 2022: 15 changes affecting expats in GermanyJuly 2022: 15 changes affecting expats in Germany
June 2022: 10 changes affecting expats in GermanyJune 2022: 10 changes affecting expats in Germany
April 2022: 11 changes affecting expats in GermanyApril 2022: 11 changes affecting expats in Germany
Calls for COVID isolation to be shortened for asymptomatic peopleCalls for COVID isolation to be shortened for asymptomatic people
Home working rule to end in Germany with transitional period until May 25Home working rule to end in Germany with transitional period until May 25
March 2022: 8 changes affecting expats in GermanyMarch 2022: 8 changes affecting expats in Germany
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usImpressumSitemapRSS feeds
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat FairWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
May 13, 2021
Abi Carter

Editor in chief at IamExpat Media

Abi studied German and History at the University of Manchester and has since lived in Berlin, Hamburg and Utrecht, working since 2017 as a writer, editor and content marketeer. Although she's happily taken on some German and Dutch quirks, she keeps a stash of Yorkshire Tea on hand, because nowhere does a brew quite like home.Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly put a heavy strain on Germany’s labour market. But without the government’s short-time working scheme, things could have been a lot worse. According to a new study, Kurzarbeit was instrumental in saving as many as 2,2 million jobs. 

German government supports millions of workers during crisis

At the height of the coronavirus crisis, the German federal government secured 2,2 million jobs via the Kurzarbeit scheme, a new study by the Institute for Macroeconomics (IMK) and the Universities of Kiel and Münster has suggested. The figure was reached by extrapolating from data about the number of hours worked by employees registered with the scheme. 

Accordingly, Kurzarbeit supported six times as many jobs in 2020 as during the 2008 / 2009 financial crisis. Its effectiveness can also be illustrated by the unemployment figures: during many previous economic crises, the number of unemployed workers doubled. In 2020, however, it only rose from 2,3 to 2,7 million. 

“The German model of short-time working is a great thing,” the economist Andreas Peichl, of the Ifo Institute, told Süddeutsche Zeitung. “Several countries have copied it in the meantime.” 

Kurzarbeit puts low-wage workers in precarious position

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, however the IMK investigation also shows that, despite receiving support from the government, the financial situation for many employees in Germany is still tight. 

While during the 2008 / 2009 financial crisis the majority of Kurzarbeit beneficiaries were industrial workers covered by collective bargaining agreements, this time around it has also been paid out to those working in less well-paid sectors, like retail and hospitality - sectors in which collective agreements are less common, and so fewer companies were obliged to top up their employees’ salaries.

Despite receiving short-time working benefits, the average single person had to forego a fifth of their income at the height of the coronavirus crisis in April 2020, twice as much as during the financial crisis. In the culture and hospitality sectors, the losses averaged 30 percent. 

“Short-time working successfully secures jobs, but can put employees with lower wages in a precarious position,” said Ulrike Stein, who heads the pension, wages and inequality department at IMK. She suggests paying a higher percentage of short-time work benefits to low-wage workers.

This is a view shared by Peichl: “Households with higher incomes put by a lot of money during the crisis. They were well-protected. There's a lot to be said for paying more to low-wage earners.”

By Abi Carter