The job market is booming: number of job searches and job offers increases

• At the beginning of the year, the number of job searches on StepStone.de rose by 53 percent
• Companies are currently advertising around 97 percent more new jobs compared with a year ago
• “We’re entering an era marked by a lack of workers rather than a lack of jobs,” predicts labor market expert Dr. Tobias Zimmermann

January is traditionally a month in which people think about making changes in many areas of their lives – including their career. It’s a time when people ask themselves whether they are really satisfied with their jobs. The Pandemic, which has recently taken yet another turn for the worse, hasn’t changed that. Analyses by StepStone show that in mid-January 2022 there were 53 percent more job searches on StepStone.de compared with the daily average for the past year. The number of registrations per day – for example to receive automated job suggestions – has also doubled since the beginning of January.

Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert at StepStone, says

Interest in jobs is traditionally very high in the first proper working week of the year. This year, however, the number of job searches is significantly higher than last year.

The number of applications submitted via StepStone has recently risen disproportionately. People are realizing that they now have an excellent opportunity to finally find the right job. StepStone’s figures show that the job market has continued its upswing in the New Year. The number of vacancies at StepStone.de at the beginning of January was 97 percent higher than in the same period last year and 47 percent above the pre-crisis level.

Golden age for jobseekers

Compared with the same period last year, companies are actively seeking staff in the area of Logistics (+85 percent). The booming e-commerce sector is driving demand for delivery drivers and warehouse employees as well as programmers for the development and maintenance of online stores and websites. Demand for staff in Trades (+101 percent), Education & Social (+100 percent), and Care (+61 percent) is also up.

Zimmermann says

Jobseekers are in a comfortable position and we assume that this will continue to be the case. The demographic change has started. The number of people retiring this year will exceed the number of new entrants to the labor market by several hundred thousand. This gap will widen over the next ten years. We’re entering an era marked by a lack of workers rather than a lack of jobs.

Unemployment figures: Full employment in Germany in the medium term?

StepStone forecasts unemployment figures on a monthly basis and predicts a rise in the number of unemployed of 195,000 to 2,525,000 in January. This increase is mainly seasonal due to the fact that fewer outdoor activities are possible in winter, for example in agriculture and construction. According to a StepStone analysis, there were 376,000 fewer people unemployed in January compared with January 2021.

Zimmermann concludes

We expect an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent for January. If there is no strict lockdown, we are likely to see a significant drop in the spring. In the next decade, Germany could approach full employment for the first time since the 1960s. A labor shortage offers us a unique opportunity, because when a valuable resource becomes scarce, we tend to handle it more carefully. And that’s exactly how the situation is going to be for jobseekers. Companies will have to woo them like never before while completely transforming the jobs they offer. This means that in the future the right job will become a reality for almost everyone.

StepStone’s unemployment forecast at a glance:

Number of unemployed in January 2022

+195,000 to 2,525,000

Number of unemployed compared with previous year (January 2021)

-376,000

Unemployment rate compared with previous month

+0.4 percentage points to 5.5 percent