In 2024, an average of about 46.1 million people were employed in Germany. Since 2013, there has been a slight increase in the proportion of people working part-time, which stood at 31% in 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Proportionally, women are much more likely to work part-time (50%) than men (13%). The most common reason for part-time work is childcare. The number of unemployed people in Germany in February 2025 was 2,989,000, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 6.4%.
Dominant economic sectors in Germany
The service sector dominates the German labor market, with approximately 34.8 million people employed in 2024. Employment has grown exclusively in this sector – Including public services, education, health, banking and insurance. Employment in the service sector accounts for about 75.5% of all employees. The service sector is followed by industry with 8.1 million and construction with 2.6 million employees.
Working time regulations for employees
There are legal limits on working hours in Germany. The German Working Hours Act and the European Working Time Directive stipulate that working hours must not exceed eight hours per day and 48 hours per week. It is possible to extend the daily working time to up to ten hours if there is compensation. The average daily working time must still be eight hours over a six-month period. There are exceptions to the ten-hour maximum daily working time for on-call duty, for example, where collective agreements provide for it and in exceptional emergencies.
Breaks
If the working time is between six and nine hours, work must be interrupted and a break of at least 30 minutes must be taken. If the total working time is more than nine hours, you must take a break of at least 45 minutes. Breaks may be divided into periods of at least 15 minutes each.
Sundays and Holidays
In principle, you are not required to work on Sundays and holidays. However, there are many exceptions, such as for multi-shift operations with regular day and night shifts, for drivers, for emergency and rescue services, for the fire brigade, in hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants and hotels.
Holidays
In Germany, employees working a five-day week are entitled to a minimum of 20 days' holiday per calendar year. However, collective agreements usually provide for higher vacation entitlements. The most recent average number of vacation days for employees in Germany was 28.3 days. Employees are entitled to their full vacation entitlement after six months of employment.
Salary for employees
Gross is not the same as net
When you sign an employment contract as an employee in Germany and are subject to social security contributions, your gross salary will be stated in your contract. However, gross is not the same as net. This means that you will be paid less than what is stated in your contract.
For example: In April 2024, the average gross salary for full-time employees in Germany was 4,634 euros per month. For employees subject to social insurance contributions, employers automatically deduct income tax and statutory social insurance contributions from this gross salary. The advantage is that employees are financially protected in the event of unemployment, illness, long-term care and old age. Employers even cover part of the costs. Deductions can vary depending on income, state, tax bracket, health insurance and marital status. In the above example of 4,634 euros gross, a single person without children in tax class I in the state of Bremen would receive around 2,900 euros net per month.
In 2024, gross wages in Germany increased by 5.7% compared to the previous year. In the years before the coronavirus pandemic, gross wages rose steadily. In 2020, wage growth slowed somewhat due to the pandemic and its economic consequences, but has since recovered.
