The Labour Market in Germany: Reforms, Recession and Robustness

Abstract

This article discusses the German labour market development during the Great Recession as well as in the years before and until 2015. Germany’s labour market witnessed a strong upswing during the recent decade and performed remarkably well in the Great Recession. Structural reforms before the crisis had improved the functioning of the labour market and initiated a solid upward trend that also helped overcome the crisis. High establishment-level flexibility allowed buffering the severe drop in GDP. While the employment upswing continued until today, critical developments concerned the increase in atypical jobs, weak wage growth and rising inequality.