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Number of job openings in Germany reaches historic high

Now is the time to be a jobseeker in Germany. With more than 1.2 million job openings recorded at the end of 2017, Germany is seeing its highest number of job vacancies since 1990.

Published: 6 March 2018 16:57 CET
Number of job openings in Germany reaches historic high
Photo: DPA

The number of job vacancies in Germany has hit a record high, according to a recent report from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremburg. In the last quarter of 2017, there were more than 1.2 million unfilled job openings nationwide, with no expected decrease in sight.

This unprecedented number of job vacancies was shared Tuesday by the IAB as a part of its research on German employment. The current total of job vacancies in Germany is up by more than 128,000 from the end of last year, and is at its highest number that Germany has seen since reunification, says IAB Employment expert Alexander Kubis.

The historically high rate of open jobs in Germany means greater opportunities for jobseekers in the German market. Photo: DPA

In former West Germany, the number of open jobs is recorded at around 918,000 positions, while the vacancy number in east Germany is around 265,000. The strongest growth in open positions has been shown to be in the manufacturing and construction sectors, while the highest number of open jobs is in the so-called “business-related sector”, such as administration, marketing and sales.

SEE ALSO: Germany in top spot for entrepreneurship in 2018 world ranking

With an average of 194 people unemployed for every 100 vacancies in west Germany, and 100 new jobs for every 225 jobless in the eastern states, Germany is currently experiencing the lowest ratio of unemployment to new jobs that it has ever seen, for both eastern and western regions.

This record-setting number of job openings comes from the most-recent IAB Job Vacancy Survey, a representative study of companies across Germany. The IAB examines job offerings in Germany four times a year – including jobs that are not reported to employment agencies. In the fourth quarter of 2017, responses from around 15,000 employers from all economic sectors were evaluated to produce the unprecedented employment findings.

This new report on job growth gives even more evidence to the developing strength of the German economy. The German Federal Labour Agency (BA) found that the unemployment rate remained at 5.4 percent in February 2018, making it the lowest level of unemployment since German reunification in 1990.

This data, coupled with the fact that the German economy grew in 2017 at its fastest rate of expansion since 2011, leads to a bright economic outlook for today's job seekers throughout Germany. 

 
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TAXES

EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Leaving the country? Got a steady job offer you can’t say no to? Winding down your self-employment activities in Germany still requires taking a few bureaucratic steps.

Published: 15 May 2024 09:07 CEST
Updated: 15 May 2024 10:57 CEST
EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Striking out on your own as self-employed is one of the scariest – and potentially most rewarding things – you can do. In Germany, it also comes with its own set of rules around tax and social insurance.

But there are times when – for whatever reason – it may be time to move on.

Whether it’s because you have an exciting new opportunity or things haven’t quite worked out the way you hoped due to economic pressures – winding down self-employment the right way is crucial to avoid gaps in your health and social insurance coverage in Germany.

The steps you have to take are also a bit different depending on if you are new self-employed (Freiberufler) or have a trade licence (Gewerbe) – with some steps not being necessary for new self-employed.

Trade licences are automatically cancelled if the licenced person dies or the company ceases to have financial assets.

Resigning the trade licence or declaring it dormant

New self-employed people like writers or speakers don’t need to go through this step, as they don’t need a trade licence.

Those who have a trade licence will need to contact their competent local authority and resign it, or declare it dormant (withdrawing the licence). If you’re only winding down temporarily, declaring your trade licence dormant instead of de-registering completely may save you a few headaches later.

You may have to do this in person at your local trade office – or Gewerbeamt – depending on whether your local authority allows online de-registration or not. You’ll need to bring your official ID, trade licence, confirmation of registration and possibly an extract from the trade register. Fees are dependent on your local authority and can range from being free to €25.

You can declare the date you intend to resign the licence – which can be in the future. To ensure no gaps in your social insurance protections, including health insurance, set this date for the day before whatever comes next. For example, if you’re starting a new job on January 1st set the date for your trade licence to expire as December 31st.

The trade office will typically notify your local tax office, so you won’t need to do this yourself.

Notifying your tax office

If you’ve had to resign your trade licence, you can skip this step as your trade office will do it for you. If you’re a Freiberufler without a trade licence you need to resign, you’ll have to notify your local Finanzamt, or tax office, yourself.

Luckily, this is a pretty easy step.

First, you need to decide whether you’re ceasing operations completely or wanting to continue them part-time. If you’re ceasing completely, you’ll end up surrendering your self-employed tax number.

You don’t have to do this though. If you think you may still carry on some self-employed business as a side gig, you can inform the tax office that you intend to do so and keep your number.

At that point, the tax office should treat you as a Kleinunternehmer – or a small business making less than €22,000 a year. Having this status means that you will not need to pre-pay taxes or charge VAT on your invoices for freelance side projects.

If you derive any income from your side gig in the future though, you’ll still have to file a tax return.

READ ALSO: Can I have a freelance side gig as an employee in Germany?

Notifying your health insurance

While different private plans in Germany may have different notification requirements, if you have public health insurance in Germany, you should notify them that you’re winding up your self-employed business. Specifically, advise them exactly what date you’re wrapping up.

Again, this should be right before you start your new job or leave the country, to ensure no gaps in your coverage.

If ending your self-employment in Germany, take care to ensure that there’s no gaps in your health insurance coverage, by giving the right date for when you’re ceasing activity. You don’t want to be caught without coverage. Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash

If you are in an artistic profession and thus pay pension, health, and nursing insurance through the Artist Social Insurance Fund (KSK), you should also advise them as well. If you’re leaving self-employment completely, you can typically give notice to KSK as to when it’s ending.

If you’re not, and intend to still make money freelancing as a side gig, they should know this as well. In this event, you’ll no longer pay health or care insurance through KSK, as this is covered through your main job.

You may need to continue to pay pension contributions through KSK based on the amount of money you still make from self-employed activities — depending on how much of them you continue.

KSK: How creative freelancers can pay less for German health insurance

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