More new unemployed in Saxony than usual

From George Moeritz

Chemnitz. The autumn revival is being felt on the labor market - after the summer vacations, entrepreneurs and personnel managers are starting to search again. Also in Saxony, the number of unemployed has fallen slightly. However, the autumn revival is comparatively low this year, reported on Friday the Federal Employment Agency.

In Chemnitz, Michaela Ungethüm, a managing director at the Saxony regional office, said the chances of finding new employment remain "relatively good." After all, she said, nearly 40,000 jobs are available. But companies are rather reluctant to report new offers, she said.

According to Ungethüm, the weak economy is also reflected in the fact that more people registered as unemployed than usual at this time of year: in Saxony, around 8,700 people from employment and around 7,200 from training came to the office to register as unemployed in September. In the same period, however, 9,400 unemployed people were placed in work and 9,200 in training or other "measures," the authority reported.

Almost 8,000 Ukrainians work in Saxony

As a result, there are now 3,360 fewer Saxons registered as unemployed than in August: a total of 131,676. Year-on-year, however, the number has risen, by 10,200. Unemployment rose most sharply in the Bautzen district and in Chemnitz. Ukrainian women, who are increasingly able to register as unemployed after their integration courses, have also contributed to this.

Around 13,200 people from Ukraine are registered as unemployed in Saxony. At the same time, however, 7,900 people with Ukrainian citizenship are employed in Saxony, 6,400 of them with social insurance, the others in mini-jobs.

Federal agency head Andrea Nahles had on Thursday at a works council meeting in Dresden said that despite the recession, the unemployment rate in Saxony was stable. It now stands at 6.2 percent. The shortage of skilled workers meant that entrepreneurs were holding on to their employees as much as possible. 1.3 million people continued to go to work as retirees, 90 percent of them in the same company - but they no longer wanted to work 40 hours.

Craftsmen find the same number of apprentices as last year

Stable is loud Chamber of Crafts Dresden also the training market in Eastern Saxony. Chief Executive Andreas Brzezinski reported that as of Friday, 1,566 men and 469 women had signed a training contract in the Dresden district. That was a total of four fewer than a year ago. According to Brzezinski, master craftsmen are "consciously focusing on training despite the limping economy and increasing concerns." Apprenticeships and traineeships are still available, he said.

Nahles said more young people need to be inspired to pursue an apprenticeship. If high school students are given the impression that they should go to university instead of an apprenticeship if possible, this is not coming from the career counselors: "Unfortunately, it's the parents."

According to the regional agency, employment growth is slowing at a high level. New jobs were created in healthcare and social services, information and communications, and other service sectors. In contrast, many contracts were terminated in construction, trade and temporary employment. However, the willingness of the business community to hire is "still at a relatively good level," and companies are looking for skilled workers.

Several hundred companies register for short-time work as a precautionary measure

Saxony's agency head Klaus-Peter Hansen had stated a month ago: "The situation is turning around." In recent years, he said, the number of employees with social insurance in Saxony had risen, up to 1.643 million people. But in June, there was a decline of 300 jobs for the first time. "We have to fear that employment will decline in the coming weeks and months," Hansen said at the time.

The latest projection for July now shows an increase of 200 professionals. Employment growth has "slowed down", but is still at a comparatively high level. In no July since 1999 have more people been employed in Saxony with social insurance.

Many companies are taking advantage of short-time working benefits instead of terminating employment contracts. But the numbers are small compared to the Corona heyday: from July to September this year, 329 companies in Saxony indicated a need for short-time work as a preventive measure, for 8,000 employees. According to the latest figures for June, 465 companies took advantage of the money, for 8,700 employees.