Archive for category News
German industry deems rising energy and raw materials prices an economic risk
January 30th, 2012 | Thema: News
A large majority of industrial businesses in Germany sees a risk factor to future economic development in rising energy and raw materials prices. According to the company barometer “Energy and raw materials for tomorrow” from the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (or DIHK), 86 per cent assess rising energy prices and 76 per cent rising raw materials prices as negative for Germany as an economic location. In addition, 20 per cent of industrial companies had already outsourced activities abroad or were planning to do so due to fears of supply bottlenecks, according to the DIHK. A total of 1,500 companies were surveyed in December 2011.
58 per cent of businesses feared more frequent power cuts or voltage fluctuations. The general availability of raw materials was also assessed to be no longer assured by 50 per cent of those surveyed. According to their own testimony many companies are counting on efficiency measures as an answer to these challenges. Three quarters have already taken measures to raise energy efficiency or were planning to do so, according to the results of the survey. Over half the companies were also looking at more efficient use of raw materials. Companies also required a well developed energy infrastructure: 92 per cent of the businesses surveyed saw a strengthening of public acceptance of network expansion as an urgent task for politicians.
Rigid working times for almost 60 per cent of German employees
January 23rd, 2012 | Thema: News
In Germany the majority of employees continue to work according to rigid working time models, which stipulate both the daily duration of work and the start and end time. This is the result of a survey by the Federal Statistics Office. According to this survey such an inflexible working time model applied to 58.1 per cent of employees in 2010. In comparison, merely 36.3 per cent had an influence on their working time arrangements and were able to use different forms of flexibility.
This flexibility had different characteristics: 24.1 per cent of employees had greater selection possibilities through a working time account. They merely had to reach a given total number of hours and possibly had to be present during so-called core times. A further 10.2 per cent were able to set the start and end of their working time flexibly using a flexitime regulation. 2.0 per cent of employees were completely flexible in setting their working time. Working time regulations did not play any role at all because their performance was assessed exclusively by work results.
Business climate for German SMEs improves further
January 16th, 2012 | Thema: News
According to a current study by the KfW Bank Group the business climate for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs or “Mittelstand”) in Germany also remained robust at the turn of the year. Correspondingly, the KfW-ifo “Mittelstand” barometer noticeably rose again in December 2011, by 2.5 points to 15.8 balance points. The business expectations of SMEs remain on course for recovery, despite reserved global growth prospects (+2.2 points). At -0.5 balance points they are now just under their long term average. In the opinion of the KfW an assessment of the current situation also contributed to the improvement in the climate, which noticeably grew (+2.9 points) and at the end of the year was just over the extraordinarily high 2011 average at 32.6 balance points.
The leader in the upwards trend in the business climate was retail (+ 6.0 points to 22.4 balance points); wholesale and construction also posted growth that went beyond typical monthly fluctuations. In contrast, the climate in more strongly export oriented manufacturing continued to lose ground.
German associations expect stable economic situation
January 9th, 2012 | Thema: News
Despite the euro and financial crisis the majority of German business associations are assuming there will be a slightly improved profit situation in 2012: 26 out of 46 associations are counting on slightly increasing profits, nine do not expect any change and eleven a slight decline in business results. This is the central result of this year’s association survey from the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln (IW, or the Cologne Institute for Economic Research). However, 23 of the 46 business associations surveyed said the mood among their member companies was currently worse than one year ago. Only eleven talked about a more positive mood.
In terms of investment and employment figures the large majority of sectors – 29 and 31 respectively – expect values to remain the same at least. The survey painted a more positive picture than could be expected in view of the recent drastically lowered growth forecasts, according to the interpretation of the result by the IW.
Temporary employment rate in German engineering at six per cent
January 2nd, 2012 | Thema: News
According to a current study from the Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA, or German Engineering Federation), member companies currently employ around 57,000 temporary employees in additional to their permanently employed staff of 945,000 (status: September 2011). “The likelihood of being taken on permanently is high and our companies do not mainly use this instrument for costs reasons,” emphasised VDMA President Thomas Lindner at a press conference. According to the survey a good third of the companies assessed the chances of a temporary employee currently working for them being taken on permanently to be over 30 per cent. Lindner described temporary employment in the sector as a “bridge to permanent employment”.
Compared to previous surveys about temporary employment, the temporary employment rate in engineering has gone up from three per cent in 2005 and five per cent in 2007 to six per cent now. According to the results three out of four companies employ temporary workers. Those surveyed reported that savings were not at the forefront: 40 per cent of the companies said the financial expenditure for employing a temporary worker was comparable with that for a permanent member of staff. Borrowing workers is even the more expensive alternative for every third company. From the VDMA’s point of view, that the instrument is used nevertheless shows the positive readiness of companies to pay for the flexibility gained through temporary employment. In this manner companies avoid losing sales and revenues in time of good economic growth.