There were more vacancies on the German labor market in the final quarter of last year than ever before.
A survey by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) revealed a total of 1.69 million vacancies for the period from October to December 2021 - according to the information, this is the highest value since the measurement began in 1989.
Compared to the third quarter, the number increased by 303,000 – that corresponds to 22 percent.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, there was even an increase of 507,000 jobs or 43 percent.
"The demand for personnel has therefore increased significantly," said IAB labor market researcher Alexander Kubis.
In total, 1.34 million vacancies were registered in western Germany and 348,000 in eastern Germany in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Most are to be filled with well over a million in smaller companies or micro-enterprises.
The IAB examines the entire job vacancy four times a year – including those jobs that are not reported to the employment agencies.
In the last quarter of 2021, the survey had responses from 12,800 employers from all sectors of the economy.