German part-time jobs at new high as industry loses full-time posts

The number of part-time workers in Germany reached a record high in the second quarter, according to research published on Tuesday.

The analysis, by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg also showed that the number of full-time workers in the country fell.

The study indicates that the proportion of part-time workers rose by 0.4 percentage points in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, reaching a record high of more than 40%.

The number of part-time workers increased by 0.5% to 16.936 million, while the number of full-time workers fell by 0.9% to 25.138 million.

The IAB says this is due to employment growth in sectors with a high proportion of part-time work, such as health and social care, as well as education and teaching.

In sectors with a high proportion of full-time work such as manufacturing, employment is declining.

According to the calculations, the total number of people in employment in Germany fell by 0.5% compared with the same quarter of the previous year, standing at 45.688 million.

The average weekly working hours for full-time employees remained constant at 38.32 hours in the second quarter. For part-time employees, this rose slightly to 18.88 hours.