Germany: number of pensioners in work on the rise

Germany’s Federal Employment Agency has calculated that the number of pensioners in work has increased by 30% since 2017. Looking more closely at the details, 300,000 people over the legal retirement age were found to still be in work in June 2021, serving in jobs that are normally subject to social security contributions. Added to that is the group of pensioners who hold one or more so-called ‘mini jobs’, which allow them to work 15 hours a week for a maximum of €450 per month, without paying social security contributions (employer’s contribution limited to 20%). There are now 1 million such individuals, marking an increase of around 5% since 2017. According to a sector-by-sector analysis conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research, pensioners in work are most frequently found in the medical, care and education sectors, but they are also present in the industrial and construction sectors. “The majority of them do so for the pleasure of working and because they want to remain active,” explains Oliver Stettes, a researcher at the institute, who maintains that the question of additional income is often secondary. According to the research institute, four out of ten companies already employ senior citizens and would like to keep more of them in work. The Federal Employment Agency has estimated that the shortage of skilled workers in Germany stands at around 1.2 million.