Off the wire
• Ukraine, Belarus agree to complete border demarcation soon  • Coca-Cola north China production base put into operation  • SOEs have potential in mass entrepreneurship, innovation: Premier  • Feature: Carbon offset project boosts conservation of Kenya's mangrove forests  • Spotlight: EU signals to take tough stance in Brexit talks  • Over 1 mln displaced in DR Congo amid violence: OCHA  • DPRK condemns U.S. test-launch of ICBM as simulated strike on Pyongyang  • Two suspects detained in Spain admit they were at scene of Brussels attack  • Germany to revoke airline pilots "rule of two"  • Eurozone inflation picks up in April  
You are here: 　 Home

More Germans work part-time

Xinhua, April 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

The number of German people in part-time employment increased, with 15.3 million employed part-time in 2016, compared to only around 8.3 million 10 years ago, official data revealed.

Meanwhile, the number of full-time employees decreased from 25.9 million to 24 million over the past 10 years.

Left party member of parliament Sabine Zimmermann brought up these statistics, produced by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), in light of the upcoming International Worker's Day May 1. The IAB is the research institute for the Federal Employment Agency.

In 1991, 28.9 million people in Germany were employed full-time and 6.3 million part-time. Since then, the share of part-time employees has risen continuously, from 17.9 to 39 percent. The total number of people employed full-time has increased since 2010 with minor fluctuations, following the low of 22.8 million at that time.

The number of people with additional employment "on the side" increased from 900,000 in 1991 to around 3 million in 2016. The total number of people in Germany who are gainfully employed increased from 35.2 million in 1991 to 39.3 million in 2016. The average hours worked per week decreased from 35 to 30 over the same period.

The structure of the job market in Germany has shifted considerably over the past decades, Zimmermann told the German Press Agency dpa.

In many cases, it shifted "away from the normal full-time employment toward involuntary part-time and side jobs that do not provide a living wage".

The German government is failing to remedy the problem of poverty despite greater employment opportunities, according to Zimmermann.

She demands an increase in the minimum wage from the current rate of 8.84 euros to 12 euros, removal of low-wage temporary work and a shift away from so-called mini-jobs towards fuller employment, subject to social security contributions.

"Normal, full-time employment has to be made possible again for more people," Zimmermann said.

The regulatory framework concerning part-time employment is currently one of the subjects being discussed by Germany's ruling coalition.

Proposed legislation by the Federal Minister of Labor Andrea Nahles, entitling employees to limited part-time work and a return to full-time, was blocked due to disagreements between the CDU and SPD coalition parties.

The German Employers' Association (BDA) has rejected the concept of part-time work being indicative of a precarious financial situation for the employees involved.

Around 87 percent of women and 76 percent of men "work part-time voluntarily", according to the BDA. Endit