What is the proportion of involuntary fixed-term employees? The indicator shows the share of employees who have a fixed-term job because they did not find a permanent job. Employees from the age of 25 years are included.
There may be various reasons for employees to have a fixed-term contract. Apprenticeship contracts and contracts for a trial period automatically involve a fixed term. The Labour Force Survey also includes a question on whether the employee sought a permanent job but did not find any.
Respondents who indicated to have sought a permanent job but did not find any are considered as 'involuntary' fixed-term employees. Long-term occupational and personal life planning is made difficult by fixed-term employment contracts.
8.1% of employees work involuntarily on a fixed-term contracts
8.1% of the fixed-term employees questioned in 2023 indicated to have accepted a fixed-term job because they had not found a permanent job. 14.6% indicated a contract for a trial period to be the reason for the fixed term and 15.9% had an apprenticeship. About 2.6% had deliberately chosen a fixed-term job. However, the most frequently cited reason was that the job was only advertised for a limited period (31.0%). Whether this was an involuntary fixed-term or a voluntary fixed-term in favor of an interesting job cannot be determined for these persons. At 27.8%, a significant proportion of employees stated that they were employed on a fixed-term basis for other reasons.
Women, at 7.2%, were slightly more often involuntarily employed on fixed-term contracts than men, at 8.8%. At 16.0%, the proportion of involuntarily fixed-term employees was highest among unskilled employees.
| Age from … to … years | Total | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: Fixed-term employees aged above 25 years. / = No response, because numerical value is not reliable enough. ( ) = low reliability. Source: Labour Force Survey. | |||
| 25 - 34 | 6.3 | 5.2 | 7.1 |
| 35 - 44 | 10.1 | 9.0 | 11.1 |
| 45 - 54 | 11.3 | (10,2) | (12,6) |
| 55 - 64 | 11.1 | (10,2) | (11,9) |
| 65 and older | / | / | / |
| Total | 8.1 | 7.2 | 8.8 |
Information on the Indicator
Description or definition
Percentage of involuntary fixed-term employees over 25 years in all persons in dependent employment over 25 years with valid information on reasons for fixed-term employment
Involuntary fixed-term employment is given if the employed person did not find a permanent job.
Source
Labour Force Survey
Information for interpretation
The microcensus with the integrated European labour force survey has been redesigned in 2020. The list of questions and the concept of the sample survey were modified, and with the introduction of an online questionnaire, the form of data collection were also changed. The results from survey year 2020 onward are therefore comparable with those of previous years only to a limited extent.
Further methodological changes affecting the results were performed in 2005, 2011 and 2021. Consequently, the results for those years can be compared with the results for previous years to a limited extent only.
The extrapolation of microcensus data uses the population figures from the 2011 Census, which was conducted as at 9 May 2011. The results have been revised from 2010 onwards. With effect from the year 2016, the sample is based on the 2011 census data. This transition affects the comparability of the results with previous years.
For more information please refer to Methods: Quality Reports and Explanations (only in German).
Further information
Redesigned microcensus as of 2020