Personal Choice Leads Germany’s Part-Time Work Trends

New figures from the Federal Statistical Office reveal how part-time employment continued to shape Germany’s workforce in 2024. According to the data, 27.9 percent of the country’s 13.1 million part-time workers reduced their hours because they wanted to. This makes personal choice the single most common reason for part-time work across the country, highlighting how many employees intentionally opt for reduced hours.

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Another important reason was caring for relatives (23.5 percent), such as children, people with disabilities, or those requiring care. When it came to caring for relatives, the proportion of women (28.8 percent) doing so was more than four times higher than that of men (6.8 percent). Furthermore, the majority of those who reduced their working hours due to caregiving responsibilities did so voluntarily, 65.3 percent stated that they wanted to take on this responsibility themselves.

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Limited availability of care options played only a minor role, cited by 11.1 percent, while 5.2 percent pointed to costs and 3.1 percent to a lack of nearby services.

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According to the Federal Statistical Office, other reasons for part-time work included education, training, or studies (11.6 percent) and personal illness or disability (4.9 percent). Only 4.8 percent of part-time employees would have preferred to work full-time but could not find a suitable position. The remaining 27.4 percent had other family, personal, or other reasons for their part-time employment.

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Around 30.6 percent of employed people in Germany worked part-time in 2024, more than ever before. Almost half of all women (49.5 percent) were employed part-time, compared to 13.9 percent of men.

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On Thursday, the job portal Indeed announced that the high proportion of part-time employees is largely due to the companies themselves. Indeed explained that the number of part-time jobs has been steadily increasing for years, while the demand from job seekers remains constant.

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The CDU's business wing caused a stir last week with its proposal to restrict the right to part-time work. The aim, according to the proposal, is to get more people into full-time employment. However, the wording "No legal entitlement to lifestyle part-time work" in particular drew criticism, even within the CDU itself.

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