Number of job openings in Germany reaches historic high

The number of job vacancies in Germany has hit a record high, according to a recent report from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremburg. In the last quarter of 2017, there were more than 1.2 million unfilled job openings nationwide, with no expected decrease in sight.

This unprecedented number of job vacancies was shared Tuesday by the IAB as a part of its research on German employment. The current total of job vacancies in Germany is up by more than 128,000 from the end of last year, and is at its highest number that Germany has seen since reunification, says IAB Employment expert Alexander Kubis.

The historically high rate of open jobs in Germany means greater opportunities for jobseekers in the German market. Photo: DPA

In former West Germany, the number of open jobs is recorded at around 918,000 positions, while the vacancy number in east Germany is around 265,000. The strongest growth in open positions has been shown to be in the manufacturing and construction sectors, while the highest number of open jobs is in the so-called "business-related sector", such as administration, marketing and sales.

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With an average of 194 people unemployed for every 100 vacancies in west Germany, and 100 new jobs for every 225 jobless in the eastern states, Germany is currently experiencing the lowest ratio of unemployment to new jobs that it has ever seen, for both eastern and western regions.

This record-setting number of job openings comes from the most-recent IAB Job Vacancy Survey, a representative study of companies across Germany. The IAB examines job offerings in Germany four times a year - including jobs that are not reported to employment agencies. In the fourth quarter of 2017, responses from around 15,000 employers from all economic sectors were evaluated to produce the unprecedented employment findings.

This new report on job growth gives even more evidence to the developing strength of the German economy. The German Federal Labour Agency (BA) found that the unemployment rate remained at 5.4 percent in February 2018, making it the lowest level of unemployment since German reunification in 1990.

This data, coupled with the fact that the German economy grew in 2017 at its fastest rate of expansion since 2011, leads to a bright economic outlook for today's job seekers throughout Germany.