Germany news: Industrial employment falls to decade low
06/18/2026 June 18, 2026 German industrial employment falls to ten-year low Employment in German industry dropped to a decade low in 2025, according to a
06/18/2026 June 18, 2026 German industrial employment falls to ten-year low Employment in German industry dropped to a decade low in 2025, according to a new study which found that only 6.6 million people were employed in the sector. As a proportion of overall employment in Germany, that represented just 19% of total employment, down from 22% in 20214.
Researchers from the Bertelsmann Foundation, which commissioned the study, said the decline was due to weaker hiring activity rather than particularly large-scale redundancies. "Declining hiring is a warning signal for future employment trends," commented Bertelsmann labor market expert Luisa Kunze. "We need a revival in labor demand in industry and more dynamism in the labor market." German industry has also become less attractive to workers in recent years, the study found.
Wage premiums (a figure representing the extra percentage of income that employees earn simply by choosing a job in the industrial sector over an equivalent position in a different field) in German industry fell from a 20% bonus ten years ago to a mere 10% advantage in 2024, according to the study.
Germany's industrial sector has been grappling for years concerns about gradual deindustrialization, with companies increasingly shifting production abroad in response to rising costs at home.
The BriefWire