Ten Years of Hartz Reforms from a Corporate Viewpoint

In August the Ifo Institute was commissioned by WirtschaftsWoche magazine to conduct a survey of over 600 managers from the manufacturing, construction, distribution and service sectors on the use of the labour market instruments newly introduced with the Hartz reforms. The survey also provided insights into current human resources policy, especially against the background of the current economic slowdown in Germany. The survey reveals that the majority of companies are using the newly designed instruments. This flexibility is also emerging clearly in the current situation as the economy loses momentum, since the dismissal of permanent staff is a long way down on the list of measures available to companies.