The number of remote workers in Germany remains high even years after the Covid pandemic forced many companies to allow their employees to work from home.
In the first quarter of this year, the number of remote and hybrid positions posted on job platform Indeed rose slightly, according to a recent analysis by the company.
Indeed's survey found that more than 15 percent of current job ads in Germany are either fully or partially remote. That's up by half a percentage point from the start of the year, and three times higher than before the Covid pandemic.
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The Frankfurt Allgemeine newspaper, which reported Indeed's survey results, noted the previous peak in remote jobs on the market was seen in February 2023, when the proportion hit 16.5 percent.
Then the number of remote positions dipped slightly to 14.2 percent by October of 2024 - which was the lowest level seen in more than two years.
In terms of real jobs, its been well documented that a relatively high level of workers in Germany work at least partially from home. According to Destatis, 23.5 percent of all employed persons in Germany were working from home in 2023. Of those, 13.2 percent worked remote daily or for more than half of their working time.
Self-employed workers were exceptionally likely to work remotely, with 39.3 percent of all self-employed and freelance workers doing so.
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Remote work could be here to stay
The high supply of jobs with a home office option meets strong demand among workers.
Indeed's survey found that demand for out-of-office work in the first quarter of 2025 was higher than at any point since data collection began at the beginning of 2019: Around 3.7 percent of job searches on Indeed were specifically for fully remote jobs.
Since the end of Covid restriction, many German and international employers reportedly wanted to bring employees back to the office, but the steady demand for remote or hybrid work suggests that working from home may be here to stay.
As a sort of compromise, many firms now offer so-called hybrid positions in which employees are only expected to work two or three days each week in the office.
For employees, working at home comes with some financial benefits including reduced costs for commuting or eating out and tax breaks for working in a home office.
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An international leader in remote work
The amount of remote jobs available in Germany is also high compared to other countries.
In the US, in comparison, the proportion is only about half as high as in Germany.
In the Netherlands and Italy the proportion of remote or hybrid positions is around ten percent, in France it is 12.4 percent, and in Canada its 14.1 percent.
Most major economies are behind Germany, while the UK has a slightly proportion at 15.9 percent.
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