Germany employee labour volume, including side jobs
Germany employee labour volume, including side jobs stood at 12,899.85 million hours in Q2 2026, according to Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency. It is one of the indicators in the IAB working time accounts table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 1991 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the IAB working time accounts table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour volume including side jobs2 | 12,899.85 | 14,138.32 | 13,914.33 | 13,984.39 | 12,927.44 | 14,123.26 | 13,997.92 | 14,073.83 | 13,090.69 | 14,074.49 | |
| Employee labour volume | 12,596.96 | 13,800.87 | 13,578.3 | 13,642.55 | 12,617.73 | 13,783.54 | 13,658.8 | 13,739.38 | 12,785.11 | 13,742.88 | |
| Side-job labour volume | 304.97 | 336.14 | 336.54 | 340.64 | 307.9 | 340.79 | 337.41 | 336.4 | 305.72 | 330.03 |
Understanding germany employee labour volume, including side jobs
Summing all hours performed across primary and secondary posts, this aggregate captures the total time delivered by wage and salary earners throughout Germany. The measurement includes standard contractual hours, paid and unpaid overtime, and net deposits into working-time accounts across main occupations and side jobs alike. Sickness leave, statutory vacations, public holidays, strike interruptions, and short-time work reductions are deducted from the total. Unlike the total labour volume of the economy, this series excludes self-employed professionals and unpaid family workers. It also differs from primary-job metrics by incorporating marginal and secondary positions, and from per-capita indicators by reporting overall hours rather than an average duration per individual.
Pronounced seasonality characterizes the unadjusted figures because the distribution of working days, movable religious feasts, and summer holiday periods fluctuates between quarters. Annual comparisons against the corresponding quarter of the preceding year provide a clearer view of underlying momentum than quarter-to-quarter changes. Initial estimates undergo routine revisions as administrative social insurance records and firm surveys are finalized over subsequent reporting cycles. When interpreting movements, analysts should separate headcounts from hours per worker, as changes in staffing can decouple from aggregate hours when the composition of part-time arrangements shifts. Furthermore, this measure should not be equated with contractual obligations, as it reflects actual time on the job.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this series include the working hours of self-employed individuals?
- No, this measure tracks dependent employees exclusively and omits self-employed professionals, freelancers, and assisting family members. Those groups are accounted for separately under the self-employed series and within the economy-wide labour volume.
- How are secondary jobs and marginal employment accounted for in this measure?
- All actual hours worked in secondary positions and mini-jobs are aggregated together with main-job hours into the headline total. This distinguishes the series from metrics that observe only primary contractual employment.
- Why can total employee labour volume diverge from the total number of employed persons?
- Aggregate hours reflect both the number of workers and the average duration each person works. Shifts in the balance between full-time and part-time positions or changes in sick leave can cause total hours to move differently from employee headcount.