The number of workers on fixed-term contracts has reached a record high in Germany, according to a study published by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the official research institute of the Federal Employment Agency.

The study showed that 3.15 million workers were on fixed-term contracts in 2017, a 12^th of the total labour force.

The Institute’s data also showed that nearly half (1.6 million) of these fixed-term employees had signed contracts which allowed for their short-term termination without the employer having to specify a business-related reason for doing so.

The Institute noted that nearly every second new hire (43%) by German companies in 2017 occurred under a fixed-term contract.

According to Xinhua, the federal government’s official goal as outlined in its coalition agreement for 2018, is to reduce the share of workers on the most precarious type of fixed-term contracts to 2.5% of the total headcount in companies with mid-sized and large companies. However, it remains unclear when legislative text will follow up on the coalition agreement’s policies.

IAB researcher Christian Hohendanner warned that this move could prompt employers to either lay off staff or seek to rely on different forms of insecure contracts not covered by the new regulation.

"In the worst-case-scenario, many affected employees would then not have any work contract instead of a fixed-term work contract", Hohendanner told Xinhua.

The IAB estimated the number of jobs affected by the proposed legislation at between 360,000 and 840,000.