Fewer temporary jobs on the German labor market

Germany is seeing a slight decline in the number of fixed-term employment contracts, with approximately 2.2 million workers currently employed under such arrangements. Data from the Federal Statistical Office, based on the 2025 microcensus, indicates a 1% decrease in fixed-term contracts since 2015.

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The number of fixed-term employment contracts has decreased by one percent since 2015.

Younger workers, particularly those aged 15 to 25, are significantly more likely to hold temporary positions. In 2025, 18.3% of this age group were employed on fixed-term contracts, compared to just 6% of all employees aged 15 to 64 not in training or education. The figures also show a slight gender disparity, with 6.2% of women and 5.7% of men employed on fixed-term contracts.

This trend is part of a larger shift away from 'atypical' employment forms, which include fixed-term contracts, mini-jobs, short-term part-time work, and temporary agency work. Overall, 17.2% of the workforce was atypically employed in 2025, down from 20.8% in 2015. The decline is even more pronounced in other forms of atypical employment, such as part-time work (up to 20 hours per week), which fell from 13.4% to 10.9%, and mini-jobs, which dropped from 6.5% to 4.1%.

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Around 6.4 million people worked in 'atypical' forms of employment.

However, temporary agency work has seen a marginal increase, rising from 1.8% to 2.0% of employment. Fixed-term contracts remain particularly prevalent in the education sector (11.2%) and the hospitality industry (8.8%), both exceeding the overall average. The data also suggests a correlation between education level and the likelihood of holding a fixed-term contract, with 11.6% of those without a vocational degree being employed on fixed terms, compared to 6.4% for highly qualified individuals.

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Only 2.7 percent of those employed on a fixed-term basis state that they consciously opted for this form.