The number of advertised positions in Germany’s industrial sector has seen a significant decrease for the second consecutive year. According to an evaluation by the personnel market researcher Index, reported by “Welt am Sonntag” industrial companies advertised seven percent fewer jobs last year than the year before, following an eleven percent decline the year prior. Overall, approximately 1.13 million jobs were advertised in 2025, down from 1.21 million in 2024.
In contrast, the job market in other sectors is showing a different trend: the number of advertised positions in healthcare and social services increased by four percent. These data are based on an analysis of 197 print media outlets, 321 online job boards, the Federal Employment Agency’s job portal, and around 969,000 company websites.
This trend serves as an early indicator for the broader job market: experts suggest that when companies stop advertising jobs today, they will stop hiring tomorrow and potentially begin laying workers off the day after. Oliver Stettes, a labor market expert at the Institute of German Economy in Cologne, noted, “The job market looks better than it actually is. The crisis is largely hidden, and it is most apparent in the very cautious hiring behavior of companies”. He added that the overall employment at record levels may be masking a structural shift-one moving toward state-related services and away from industrial value creation.
This development has wide-ranging economic implications. Enzo Weber, a research department head at the Institute for Labour Market Research (IAB), stated that while “new jobs in care or education have high social value” the loss of industrial jobs and investments could lead to sweeping deindustrialization.
Consequently, economic entities are increasing the pressure for change. Rainer Dulger, president of the employers’ association BDA, stressed that for job losses not to continue, “there is a need for noticeable reforms in the social state, the reduction of bureaucracy, and energy costs”.
