BERLIN, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The increase in the number of German companies applying for short-time work due to COVID-19 flattened out at a "very high level", the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced on Wednesday.
Compared to the previous week, the number of German companies applying for short-time work decreased slightly by 7,000 to around 718,000 on April 20, according to BA.
Almost every third company in Germany with at least one employee who was liable for social security contributions had currently announced short-time work, BA stressed.
On Tuesday, a survey by Hans Boeckler Foundation found that 14 percent of employed persons in Germany were currently on short-time work. This would correspond to around 4 million employees on short-time work in Germany.
Employees in Germany receive at least 60 percent of the net loss of earnings in government subsidies when employers switch to shorter working hours during an economic crisis in order to avoid permanent lay-offs.
The German press agency (dpa) reported that an increase in the governmental short-time work allowance could be discussed during a meeting of the coalition committee with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Hubertus Heil supported the demand of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) to increase state subsidies for employees on short-time work from 60 to 80 percent of lost wages for May until July. Enditem
