Labour market

more ...

Current news

In 2010, the main activity of a total of 1.49 million people was in accommodation and food services. A share of 41.4% of them worked part time. This is reported by the Federal Statistical Office based on results of the microcensus on the occasion of the International trade fair for hotels, restaurants, catering, confectionery and café (INTERGASTRA), which will take place in Stuttgart from 11 February 2012. For more details please refer to the German version.

According to results of the labour force survey, about 8.4 million people aged 15 to 74 years wished to have a job or to do more working hours in 2010. Compared with the previous year, the number was down by 324,000 (–3.7%). This means that, despite the favourable labour market development, there is still considerable unused labour supply. For more details please refer to the German version.


In 2010, the number of people in atypical employment reached 7.84 million. As further reported by the Federal Statistical Office on the basis of microcensus results, the number increased by 243,000 persons compared with 2009. The total number of persons in dependent employment rose by 322,000 to 30.90 million from 2009 to 2010.


The number of public service personnel has declined considerably since German unification. Further information on public service personnel can be found in the section "Finance, taxes and public service".