Labor market: number of employees in industry is increasing

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Industrial workers at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg

Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa

Last year, including inflation, German industry produced significantly less. Nevertheless, the number of jobs has not fallen, on the contrary: in 2023, employment in the manufacturing sector increased slightly by an annual average of 62,000, as the Federal Statistical Office announced. At the end of December, a total of almost 5.6 million people worked in industrial companies with more than 50 employees.

However, the trend was slightly downward towards the end of the year. In December 2023, the number of employees increased by 30,000, only 0.5 percent higher than in December 2022. Compared to the previous month of November, it even fell by 21,000 or 0.4 percent.

Employment developed differently in the various industrial sectors. Compared to November, the biggest increase was in the manufacturers of data processing equipment, electronic and optical products, with an increase of 4.5 percent. More people were also employed in the food industry, mechanical engineering, electrical equipment manufacturers and the automobile industry than in the previous month. In the chemical industry, however, employment fell by 1.8 percent. The metal industry and plastics producers also recorded a decline in jobs.

However, for the entire year 2023, all industrial sectors with the exception of the chemical sector and plastics manufacturers reported an increase in employment. However, this is still not a sign of strength, says economist Sebastian Dullien, scientific director of the trade union-affiliated Institute for Macroeconomics and Economic Research (IMK) of the Hans Böckler Foundation: "The number of employees has increased year-on-year until recently, but the number However, the number of hours worked in the last three months of the year was below that of the previous year. Seasonally adjusted employment in the manufacturing sector has also only moved sideways since spring 2023.”

In addition, employment in industry is still below the level of the two years before the corona crisis, said Dullien. In particular, the energy-intensive sectors such as chemicals, metals and plastics were hit by the energy price shock as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine and, despite prices that have now fallen, are deeply unsettled about further developments. The IMK economist does not expect any noticeable increase in industrial employment for the current year; there is even a risk of job cuts.

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