One ninth of German workforce made redundant during crisis

Since the global financial crisis began a year ago, one out of every nine Germans have lost their jobs, according to a trade union study cited by daily Rheinische Post on Wednesday.

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Research by the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) found that some 3.258 million people had been laid off since the crisis started, meaning that one ninth of all people qualifying for unemployment benefits had registered for them in the past 12 months. Most have since found work, however, the study said the number of people made redundant had surged by 18 percent compared to a year ago.

Contrary to the common assumption, the risk of being laid off in Germany is “extremely high,” said Wilhelm Adamy, who analysed official government employment data spanning between October 2008 and September 2009 for the study.

Those with the greatest risk of redundancy are contract workers, followed by hospitality workers, and those in agriculture and construction. The risk of job loss in the banking and insurance industries was relatively low, the study found.

“In the branches of finance and insurance that caused the crisis the entry into joblessness increased only below average,” Adamy told the paper.

According to the Federal Labour Agency, 3.346 million people remained unemployed in September 2009 in Germany.