In the Shell Youth Study 2024, 91 percent of young people in Germany said that a secure job was important or very important to them. A high income was important to 83 percent, and good chances of promotion to 80 percent. In the 2015 study, the figure for a secure job had been 95 percent. At the same time, only 35 percent said they feared unemployment or not finding a training place. That was a record low.
Father State
In a survey by EY published in 2016, 32 percent of students in Germany said they would like to work for the state. No other employer was named as often. For 63 percent, job security was the most important criterion in choosing an employer. A report on the survey called the state by its old nickname, Vater Staat, Father State. In EY’s student study of 2026, a stable and secure job was again the top factor, named by 52 percent. Salary came second with 43 percent. In the 2024 study, salary had been in first place.
Nokia Leaves Bochum
On 15 January 2008, Nokia announced that it would close its mobile phone plant in Bochum and move production to Romania. About 2,000 of some 2,300 permanent employees lost their jobs, and about 800 temporary workers were also affected. The site had received 88 million euros in public subsidies. Peter Struck, head of the SPD group in the Bundestag, called Nokia’s conduct unanständig, indecent. The premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers, warned Nokia against acquiring the image of a Subventions-Heuschrecke, a subsidy locust. SPD leader Kurt Beck spoke of caravan capitalism. Politicians of all parties called for a boycott of Nokia phones. According to the magazine Capital, Nokia’s market share in Germany fell by eight percent between January and July 2008. The new plant in Romania closed in 2011.
Volkswagen’s Job Guarantee
In 1993, more than 30,000 jobs at Volkswagen were at stake. From 1 January 1994, the company introduced a four-day week instead, under a special collective agreement. Weekly hours fell from 36 to 28.8. Employees lost about ten percent of their annual gross income. The four-day week prevented the loss of 30,000 jobs. A job security agreement from the same year ruled out compulsory redundancies. It was renewed again and again for three decades.
On 2 September 2024, Volkswagen said it could no longer rule out closing plants in Germany. No Volkswagen plant in Germany had ever been closed. A week later, the company terminated the job security agreement in force since 1994. The head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: Es ist ein bitterer Tag. It is a bitter day. Car production at the smallest German plant, in Dresden, was due to end before Christmas 2025. Its staff remain covered by the company’s job guarantee until 2030. If no task is found for them, they may have to stay at home on continued pay.
A Guarantee Until 2034
On 4 March 2025, Mercedes-Benz announced a package of savings agreed with its group works council. The job security agreement for about 91,000 employees in Germany was extended from the end of 2029 to the end of 2034. In return, employees accepted a lower share of the profits and other cuts. The head of the works council, Ergun Lümali, said: Ja, es wird notwendige Einschnitte und Verzicht geben. Yes, there will be necessary cuts and sacrifices.
Loyalty for Loyalty
In 1835, Alfred Krupp set up a voluntary fund for illness and death for his 67 workers. A compulsory sickness and death fund followed in 1853, and a company pension fund in 1855. From 1856, Krupp built housing and company shops for his workers and paid wages above the average. The aim was to increase the workers’ attachment and loyalty to the firm. Krupp presented the works as a community under the motto Treue gegen Treue, loyalty for loyalty. A true Kruppianer, as his workers were called, was expected to show only his best side in private life too. The general regulations of 1872 banned union and Social Democratic activity. When Alfred Krupp died, more than 20,000 people worked for the firm.
Sugar Bread and Whip
Otto von Bismarck introduced health insurance in 1883 and accident insurance in 1884. On 24 May 1889, the Reichstag passed insurance for old age and disability. The aim was also political: to bind the workers firmly to the government. Together with the law against the Social Democrats, the policy is known as Zuckerbrot und Peitsche, sugar bread and whip. Unemployment insurance followed under a law of 16 July 1927. It came into force on 1 October 1927 and created the national agency that is the predecessor of today’s Federal Employment Agency.
Monday Demonstrations Against Hartz IV
The Hartz IV reform replaced unemployment assistance with a new benefit, Arbeitslosengeld II. In Leipzig, people began to demonstrate against it on Mondays, and from 29 March 2004 they did so every week and in greater numbers. The name recalled the Monday demonstrations of 1989. Joachim Gauck called the name foolish and forgetful of history. At the peak, on 30 August 2004, at least 200,000 people demonstrated in more than 200 cities. The anger at the reforms also produced a new political force. The association Electoral Alternative for Work and Social Justice, WASG, was founded on 3 July 2004. It became a party in January 2005 and merged with the PDS in 2007 to form Die Linke.
Little Man, What Now?
Hans Fallada’s novel Kleiner Mann – was nun?, Little Man, What Now?, appeared in 1932. Its hero, the bookkeeper Johannes Pinneberg, loses his job. He finds work in a department store and loses that job too, after only a year. He is behind on his sales quota. Fallada described his hero as einer von sechs Millionen, ein Garnichts, one of six million, a nothing. The book became a bestseller and went through 45 editions. It was filmed in Germany in 1933 and in Hollywood in 1934.
The Vocabulary of the Secure Job
Lebensstellung
Life position. Duden defines it as a permanent job, often with chances of promotion, held until one leaves working life.
Jobhopper
Someone who often changes jobs in order to make a career. Duden marks the word as jargon.
Lücke im Lebenslauf
Gap in the CV. A period without work or training that applicants are expected to explain.