BERLIN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- In 2018, nearly 4.6 million people in Germany aged between 15 and 74 years wanted to have a job or to work more hours, the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.
Unused labor supply in Germany comprised nearly 1.5 million unemployed, just under 2.2 million "underemployed" who wish to increase their working hours, and 925,000 people who fit in neither category and were labeled as "hidden labor force".
According to Destatis, unused labor supply in Germany has declined by 9.3 percent year-on-year.
"The decline in unused labor potential shows that the utilization rate of the labor force in Germany continued to rise in 2018," Holger Schaefer, senior economist for employment at the German Economic Institute (IW), told Xinhua.
Compared to 2017, both the number of unemployed and the number of underemployed has fallen "significantly" by 153,000 and 237,000, respectively.
"It must be taken into account that the unused labor force potential cannot be easily activated. For parents to be able to work, for example, better childcare facilities are needed," emphasized Schaefer.
Around five percent of employees in Germany sought to increase their workload. With more than 10 percent, the share among part-time employees was three times higher than for full-time employees, who mostly sought to increase their working time by a "few hours."
Schaefer noted that "there are not only people who want to work more, but also those in employment who want to reduce their working hours."
The number of people who sought to reduce their working hours has remained nearly unchanged, according to Destatis. In 2018, 1.4 million "overemployed" Germans were seeking to reduce their working hours even if they earned less as a result.
