Reported figures suggest that the transition for recipients of basic subsistence aid (Bürgergeld) from minijobs to standard employment is becoming increasingly difficult. According to data cited by the newspaper “Bild” from the federal government, the number of minijobbers successfully placed in insured jobs declined significantly between years. In 2017, a total of 102,084 minijobbers transitioned into regular employment positions. By comparison, the figure for the period up to September of the most recent year was only 50,831, which annualizes to approximately 67,775. This trend of decline was noticeable even in the full-time sector, where placements halved, falling from 33,953 cases to 16,315, or roughly 21,753 annualized.
The decline is also apparent when examining the qualification rate. In 2017, 27.1 percent of those who received basic subsistence aid managed to move into regular employment (102,084 out of an annual average of 376,292). However, for the period through September of the most recent year, this rate dropped to 18.6 percent (50,831 out of 273,911).
Hülya Düber, a CSU parliamentary representative and social policy expert, commented to “Bild” that the reduction in people moving from basic assistance into regular jobs illustrates that “the incentives within the system are not yet right”. She added that currently, “work does not often seem worthwhile” and argued that the goal must be to make work noticeably valuable and the step into regular employment more attractive.
Jan Feser, an AfD parliamentary representative who originally requested the data, told the same publication that the Federal Employment Agency is largely “managing unemployment rather than effectively eliminating it”. He argued that minijobs are frequently becoming a “misuse-prone permanent state” instead of acting as a necessary bridge toward genuine employment. The Federal Employment Agency, however, rejected these criticisms, pointing instead to the weak overall state of the labor market.
