Short-term work during the pandemic

What impact did short-time work have on employees during the coronavirus pandemic? One study comes to a clear conclusion: short-time work was an “effective instrument to contain the consequences of the economic slump on the labor market,” according to Clara Schäper, one of the authors of this study. Together with Katharina Wrohlich, she analyzed data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

Between March 2020 and March 2021, an average of 3.6 million employees per month were on short-time work. A representative survey showed that women were sent on short-time work more often than men. Overall, however, inequality on the labor market did not increase. Those who were on short-time work in 2020 were on average no more likely to become unemployed in the following year than employees not affected by short-time work – regardless of whether they were men or women.

People without access to short-time work, especially “mini-jobbers” and the self-employed, were sometimes hit very hard by the economic impact of the pandemic.

Further information

DIW Berlin: Kurzarbeit in Corona-Pandemie hat geschlechtsspezifische Ungleichheiten auf dem Arbeitsmarkt nicht verstärkt

Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kurzarbeit schadet der Karriere nicht (for subscribers)

All results in the overview