Ifo Personnel Manager Survey – Impact of a Nationwide Minimum Wage on Staff Numbers

The Ifo Institute surveys around 1,000 personnel managers on the importance of various instruments to promote flexibility that are used in personnel organisation on a quarterly basis. The special question in the first quarter of 2014 asked companies whether they plan to change their staff bases this year and/or as of 2015 against the backdrop of the minimum wage plans. Their responses reveal that although the minimum wage plans play no role in many branches, they will have dramatic consequences like large-scale redundancies in some segments, especially in branches that employ low-skilled staff.