German unemployment would be much worse without short-time work

Unemployment in Germany would be much worse without the government's short-time work scheme that is securing millions of jobs, German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said on Thursday.

Heil, who said he would fight for every job, added that it was unclear how long the scheme's reserves would last and it might be necessary to organise liquidity aid for the scheme.

Short-time work is a form of state aid that allows employers to switch employees to shorter working hours during an economic downturn to keep them on the payroll.