The number of vacancies on the German labor market is at a record high.
A survey by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) revealed 1.93 million vacancies for the second quarter of the year.
That was 11 percent more than in the first quarter, the institute announced on Thursday in Nuremberg.
If you use the same period of the previous year, the number of vacancies even rose by 66 percent.
According to the IAB, there have never been so many vacancies as in the period from April to June 2022 since the start of the survey for the entire federal territory in 1992.
The IAB regularly asks companies about all the vacancies - and thus also records vacancies that are not registered with the employment agencies.
In the second quarter of 2022, the institute had answers from around 7,500 employers from all sectors of the economy.
Personnel requirements in almost all sectors
"Despite the considerable risk of recession, the number of vacancies has continued to rise sharply and is at an exceptionally high level," said IAB expert Alexander Kubis.
"The shortage of skilled workers and workers is clearly reflected in the information provided by the companies and led to an increasing need for personnel in almost all sectors in the first half of the year."
However, the further development is uncertain: "The labor market signals a high demand for work, but there are serious risks for the near future, for example with regard to a possible stop in gas deliveries from Russia."
This is the conclusion reached by a current study by the Institute of German Economics in Cologne.
According to the researchers, if the gas price doubles in autumn, more than 300,000 people could lose their jobs by the end of next year.