Germany – will labor become scarce again?
Even though the labor market has not yet responded to the economic upturn, labor shortages are likely to reemerge soon in many sectors.
Commerzbank Economic Research
10/01/2026
The economic upturn has not yet reached the labor market, ...
Despite the economic recovery seen in recent quarters, there was once again bad news from the German labor market this week. While the number of unemployed appears to have stabilized, the number of employed persons continues to decline. The overall loss of jobs has been slowed by the fact that the government and government-affiliated sectors such as health care, education, and long-term care have created new jobs in recent years. In contrast, the number of employees subject to social insurance contributions in the private sector has fallen by more than 400,000 since early 2023, when the recession began – with manufacturing particularly hard hit – and there is no sign yet of a slowdown in job losses.
For full text see attached PDF-Version.
