Many Thuringians drive to work in the neighboring federal states. Job exchanges offer thousands of vacancies in the Free State. Trade unionists also see a reason for this in the low wage level.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – Bad news for the Thuringian labor market: Despite many job offers and a shortage of skilled workers in the Free State, the number of commuters to other federal states has increased. At the same time, more people from other federal states are coming to Thuringia to work, as the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency announced on Monday. “If the infrastructure and working conditions are right, jobs at home will become more and more attractive for many people,” said Markus Behrens, head of the regional office.
According to figures from the regional directorate, 126,100 of the 854,400 employees subject to social security contributions who lived in Thuringia in the middle of last year were commuters. This means that every seventh Thuringian employee works in another federal state. That was 1,800 more than the year before.
The number of people who came to work in Thuringia was only 74,400 – but the trend was rising. In 2021 there were only 71,500 commuters. According to the regional directorate, the data is from June 2022.
Trade unionists, but also labor market experts, see the reason for the discrepancy in the still low level of earnings in Thuringia compared to other countries and in the generally low collective bargaining coverage of companies.
Most Thuringians – 33,600 – commuted to economically strong Bavaria, another 22,400 to neighboring Saxony and another 20,900 to western neighbor Hesse. The regional directorate also analyzed the qualification level of the commuters. After that, 72,600 worked as skilled workers, 36,500 as specialists and 16,800 as helpers. The majority worked in the industry of other federal states (28,300). But the car trade also benefited elsewhere from 16,300 Thuringians. Other major areas of employment for commuters from Thuringia were health and social services and the construction industry, each with 12,100.
Of the 74,400 commuters, 17,800 came from Saxony, 14,500 from Saxony-Anhalt, 10,200 from Bavaria and 7,700 from Hesse. Around 5,700 employees lived abroad but worked in Thuringia.
“Commuting to work is part of working life because the right job is not always available where you live,” said Behrens. In his estimation, however, many commuters do not know what job offers regional companies have. In addition, the time during the corona pandemic has shown that digitization makes it possible to work mobile and over long distances.
Thuringia has been trying to bring commuters back for years. There are regular commuter days with information on employment opportunities. The job exchange of the Thuringian Agency for Skilled Workers (ThAFF) offers an average of around 10,000 job offers from several thousand employers based in Thuringia. According to the ThAFF, in order to be able to post a job offer, companies must have a seat in Thuringia – temporary employment agencies are not permitted.