There were approximately 1.21 million job vacancies in Germany during the second quarter of 2018, an increase of 115,00 when compared to the second quarter of 2017, according to the data from the Federal Employment Agency’s Institute for Employment Research.

The vacancy rate was 2.8% in the second quarter of 2018 in Germany. As a result, there are now almost three job vacancies for 100 employees subject to social security contributions. The Institute says this value is also a clear indication of the increasing labour shortage in Germany, adding that in 2012 the vacancy rate was still at 2%.

The institutes’ data showed that of the 1.21 million vacancies in the second quarter of 2018, around 940,000 jobs were distributed in Western Germany and about 270,000 in Eastern Germany. The vacancy rate stood at 2.7% in Western Germany and at 3.2% in Eastern Germany. The Institute says the difference stems from decades-long east-west migration of many young people and the below-average wage level in Eastern Germany.