[ID] Q&A about Short-term Work (Kurzarbeit) and Skills Development in Germany

The short time work allowance (Kurzarbeitergeld) is Germany´s most effective instrument to tackle the economic and social collateral damages of COVID-19. In a nutshell, the National Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) pays the short-time allowance as partial compensation for a loss of earnings caused by a temporary cut in working hours.

This reduces the costs faced by employers in the context of employing workers and enables companies to continue to employ their workforce even in the event of a loss of orders or a dramatic supply and demand shock during the Covid-19 crisis.  In other words, the short-time allowance helps to prevent job losses, it prevents to lose (well trained) employees and reduces transaction as well as real fix costs for employers.