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How Germany Saved Its Workforce From Unemployment While Spending Less Per Person Than the US
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-germany-saved-its-workforce-from-unemployment-while-spending-less-per-person-than-the-us
BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 20: People past by an employment agency during the coronavirus crisis on May 20, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The coronavirus pandemic has caused German firms to apply for a record 10.1 million work
The pandemic has cost jobs around the world. Comparing people who lost the same position in the two countries reveals that the U.S. government is spending more on unemployment — but its citizens are getting less.
By Alec MacGillis
June 3, 2020 10:52 a.m.
This story first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
The global coronavirus pandemic threw Petra Hamann’s job into peril faster than just about any other. She is a physical therapist, a profession that is all about close proximity to others, with a clientele that leans toward older people, exactly the population most vulnerable to the virus. In March, she and the rest of the 10-person therapy group that employed her lost virtually all of their clients, first as a result of clients’ fears about coming in for appointments, then as a result of government stay-at-home orders.
But neither Hamann nor anyone else in her group lost their job. Instead, they were kept on and, even while having zero clients, received 60% of their normal pay. As about half her clients gradually started to return in recent weeks, she began making 80% of her usual pay (including compensation for the clients who had not come back). And she was able to do so without having to negotiate any paperwork or online bureaucracy; she and her co-workers simply signed a form from their employer.
The upshot is that, even amid an existential threat to her job, Hamann and her colleagues were able to adjust to the new circumstances with minimal stress. Her brother is benefiting from the same program at his auto-manufacturing job, where he’s been getting 70% of his usual pay despite sharply reduced hours.
“We’ve found it all pretty good,” Hamann said. “As a way to bridge the gap, it’s a good deal.”
</snip>
BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 20: People past by an employment agency during the coronavirus crisis on May 20, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. The coronavirus pandemic has caused German firms to apply for a record 10.1 million work
The pandemic has cost jobs around the world. Comparing people who lost the same position in the two countries reveals that the U.S. government is spending more on unemployment — but its citizens are getting less.
By Alec MacGillis
June 3, 2020 10:52 a.m.
This story first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
The global coronavirus pandemic threw Petra Hamann’s job into peril faster than just about any other. She is a physical therapist, a profession that is all about close proximity to others, with a clientele that leans toward older people, exactly the population most vulnerable to the virus. In March, she and the rest of the 10-person therapy group that employed her lost virtually all of their clients, first as a result of clients’ fears about coming in for appointments, then as a result of government stay-at-home orders.
But neither Hamann nor anyone else in her group lost their job. Instead, they were kept on and, even while having zero clients, received 60% of their normal pay. As about half her clients gradually started to return in recent weeks, she began making 80% of her usual pay (including compensation for the clients who had not come back). And she was able to do so without having to negotiate any paperwork or online bureaucracy; she and her co-workers simply signed a form from their employer.
The upshot is that, even amid an existential threat to her job, Hamann and her colleagues were able to adjust to the new circumstances with minimal stress. Her brother is benefiting from the same program at his auto-manufacturing job, where he’s been getting 70% of his usual pay despite sharply reduced hours.
“We’ve found it all pretty good,” Hamann said. “As a way to bridge the gap, it’s a good deal.”
</snip>
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