Recruit Sales in Germany October 2022 Update Bulletin

Recruiting in Germany Bulletin

Welcome to our October 2022 Recruiting in Germany Bulletin.

Some information about Germany

Germany has a population of eighty-one million people.

Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe. Covering an area of 137,847 square miles, of which 34,836 square miles is covered by land and 3,011 square miles contains water.

The economy of Germany is a highly developed social market economy. The country accounts for about 28% of the euro area economy according to the IMF. Germany is one of the largest export nations in the world.

In Germany the share of industry in gross value added is 22.9 per cent, making it the highest among the G7 countries. The strongest sectors are vehicle construction, electrical industry, general engineering, and the chemical industry.

Medium-sized enterprises form the heart of the German economy. In other words, companies with an annual turnover of less than fifty million euros and less than five hundred employees. This sector of the economy embraces 99.6 per cent of German companies. More than 1,000 of these companies are so-called hidden champions, i.e., often publicly less well-known international market leaders.

Germany is one of the world’s largest motor car producers. China and the USA are the two biggest markets.

Germany is the world’s premier location for organising international trade fairs. Two-thirds of the major global industrial events take place in Germany. Ten million visitors attend around 150 international trade fairs and exhibitions each year

Germany is also a founding member of the European Union and the Eurozone.

If you are looking to recruit experienced sales staff to enable you to exploit new or existing markets within Germany, the UK, Europe or further afield, please call us for a no-obligation discussion.

GERMAN ECONOMIC INDICATORS October 2022

Despite difficult conditions in the global economy, the German economy held its ground in the first two quarters of 2022 but nothing more than that. Manufacturing has suffered through high energy costs and supply chain bottleneck issues. Nevertheless, the economy has not collapsed, far from it, despite very challenging market conditions. Exports, the backbone of the German economy have increased, as have salary levels. Employment levels have remained constant.

The inflation rate in Germany, measured as the year-on-year change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at +10.0% in October. At 10%, the inflation rate has reached an all-time high since German reunification in 1989.

The enormous price rises for energy products such as gas and oil are the main reasons for high inflation. But there have also been substantial price increases for many other goods, especially food.

The end of both the fuel discount period (introduced to combat rising oil prices) and the 9-euro train ticket availability (introduced to encourage motorists to use trains) also accelerated the price rises.

In addition to the rising prices of all energy products due to the war in Ukraine, delivery bottlenecks and significant price increases at upstream stages in the economic process had an impact on the inflation rate.

The prices of other goods and services also went up as a consequence, among them again many food products right across the board.

Food prices rose over 18% in September and October compared with the same months a year earlier and thus more than overall prices. Prices have increased gradually since the beginning of the year and higher prices were seen in all food groups.

Energy product prices were 43.9% higher in September 2022 than in the same month a year earlier. There was a particularly large price increase for household energy (+51.8%). Heating oil prices more than doubled year on year (+108.4%) and natural gas prices rose by +95.1%. Electricity prices increased by 21.0%.

All this has had a significant negative effect on companies in the manufacturing sector that rely heavily on cheap energy, such as steel and car manufacturing.

The economy was however supported by household and government final consumption expenditure. Despite large price increases and the energy crisis, consumers took the opportunity to travel and go out more, for example, in the second quarter of 2022 after nearly all Covid-19 restrictions had been lifted. 

Expenditure on accommodation, restaurant and transport services increased strongly in the second quarter of 2022. Households also spent more money on semi-durables such as clothing and footwear. 

German Exports 2022

As a whole, trade with foreign countries went up. Enterprises reported altogether stable exports although the volume of goods exported to Russia was down considerably in the second quarter of 2022 compared with the beginning of the year due to the war in Ukraine. Despite the interruptions in supply chains worldwide, exports of goods and services were up by 0.3% from the first quarter of 2022, after price, seasonal and calendar adjustments. Foreign trade increased a year earlier. Total exports rose by 1.9% in the second quarter of 2022 year on year.

Employment and Salaries 2022

45.4 million persons resident in Germany were in employment in August 2022. According to the labour force survey, 1.32 million people were unemployed in August. That was a decrease of 125,000, or 8.6%, compared with August 2021. 

Gross wages and salaries of employees in the second quarter of 2022 were 6.1% higher than in the second quarter of 2021, net wages and salaries were up by 5.9%. 

Compiled by SA in October 2022 from various public and widely available news sources and articles.

*Please note the information contained herein is an aggregate of news stories, by commentators widely available - readers should seek independent verification, and this in no way represents the views or opinions of Standley Associates.

We will continue to check the news reports and will provide monthly summaries of the trends