CAPTION: More than 100,000 workers in the German industry are working on short time, the Ifo institute reported. (picture alliance/dpa)
A worsening economic outlook and declining order books are leading German industry to resort increasingly to short-time working, the Munich-based Ifo institute reported on Thursday.
In September, 5.8 per cent of companies in the manufacturing sector were making use of the practice, up from 3.8 per cent in June, Ifo said.
Looking ahead, 12.4 per cent of the companies surveyed were predicting that they would need to make use of short-time working to bridge reduced demands, while retaining skilled personnel.
"This means that the number of companies resorting to short-time working has reached a level last seen at the height of the 2012-13 recession," Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of economic prognosis at Ifo, said.
At the time, there were more than 100,000 workers on short time.
Many analysts believe Germany to be in a technical recession with a likely decline in gross domestic product predicted for the third quarter after a marginal decline in the second.
The survey found that short-time working was concentrated in seven sectors, with the textile industry worst hit, followed by the electrical equipment, metal production and processing and metal products sectors.
Other sectors affected were machine tool making, vehicles and vehicle parts, and paper and cardboard.
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