Share of hires with recruitment difficulties in West Germany
Share of hires with recruitment difficulties in West Germany stood at 30.6% in 2025, according to Institute for Employment Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency. It is one of the indicators in the Hiring difficulties table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 2010 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Hiring difficulties table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 30.5 | 36.3 | 41.1 | 44.2 | 37 | 34 | 44 | 44.2 | 42.7 | 36 | |
| West Germany | 30.6 | 36.8 | 41.9 | 45.4 | 36.2 | 33.7 | 43.2 | 43.7 | 42 | 34.8 | |
| East Germany | 30 | 34.3 | 37.8 | 39.3 | 40.7 | 35.4 | 47.2 | 46.3 | 45 | 41 |
Understanding share of hires with recruitment difficulties in West Germany
Workplaces located within the western federal states form the sample boundary for this metric, which gauges the proportion of successful recruitments marked by hiring obstacles. The scope includes every completed hiring process in western establishments where employers encountered delays, applicant deficits, or expectation misalignments. It stands apart from the East Germany series by isolating western workplaces, and from the national total by excluding eastern regional results. The physical location of the employing establishment determines inclusion, meaning remote or commuting personnel hired by western employers remain within this measure.
Evaluating this regional series on an annual basis smooths out transient seasonal recruitment swings common to weather-dependent and holiday-driven sectors. Comparing results year on year provides an appropriate gauge of matching pressures in the western regional labor market across cyclical phases. Caution is warranted when comparing this rate directly to the eastern series without accounting for differing regional industrial and occupational structures. In addition, sample weight revisions introduced in benchmark survey rounds can alter long-term baselines, so multi-period analyses should look at broad shifts rather than minor annual variations.
Frequently asked questions
- How are workers who commute from other regions counted in this series?
- The series is defined by the location of the employing workplace, regardless of where the hired employee resides.
- Does this indicator include vacancies that could not be filled?
- No, it focuses exclusively on hiring procedures that ultimately resulted in an appointment.
- Why might the western rate differ from the all-Germany average?
- The western series captures only establishments located in western states, whereas the national figure combines all regions into a single weighted total.