IFO sees better mood
German companies want to hire more
01/27/2023 10:51 am
The willingness to hire new employees is increasing. Personnel are particularly sought after in mechanical engineering and the electrical industry. This is the result of a survey by the IFO Institute. The employment barometer has climbed to its highest level in months.
With the decreasing fears of recession, the willingness of companies in Germany to hire new staff is increasing. The employment barometer climbed to 100.2 points in January, after 99.6 points in December, as the Munich IFO Institute announced in its survey of 9,000 companies. This is the highest level since August 2022. “The waning pessimism in the German economy is also reflected in the labor market,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of the IFO surveys.
In industry, the employment barometer has risen noticeably. “New employees are particularly sought after in mechanical engineering and the electrical industry,” said Wohlrabe. The willingness to hire has also increased among service providers. In the IT industry in particular, many positions are vacant. “The layoffs at large IT companies are an opportunity for many small and medium-sized companies to hire new employees,” said the IFO Institute.
In retail, hiring and layoff plans are roughly balanced. Despite the difficult environment – such as rising material and interest costs with falling orders – there are slightly positive employment expectations in the construction industry.
The economic prospects for Europe’s largest economy have recently brightened noticeably. The federal government expects gross domestic product to grow by 0.2 percent in the current year, after predicting a minus of 0.4 percent in the autumn. A sustained upswing is expected on the labor market. At the end of the year, the number of people in employment reached a record high of around 45.7 million. “This trend of increasing employment is likely to continue this year,” says the federal government’s annual economic report. “The need for labor is high in many areas despite the economic slowdown.”