Germany's Ifo institute sees widespread layoffs in coronavirus crisis

Many German industries are cutting jobs as a result of the coronavirus crisis, Germany's Ifo institute said on Monday, specifying that 39% of automotive companies, 50% of hotels, 58% of restaurants, and 43% of travel agencies had shed staff in April. "From now on, the crisis will have an impact on the German labor market," said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys.

Higher than average layoffs were also being made in many other sectors but none in pharmaceuticals, the institute noted. Geographically, the Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg states were worst hit while there were far fewer redundancies in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.