The economy of German imperialism is in recession, in other words in an economic crisis as part and expression of the general crisis of imperialism. This is noticeable in many areas and, interestingly, now also in the unemployment figures. The whole thing is interesting because there is "actually" a great shortage of skilled workers in the FRG, or rather, and this is the more correct version, a great general shortage of labor. It should also be said that, firstly, there are demographic reasons for this shortage, which are repeatedly brought to the foreground in the media, but secondly, it also has a lot to do with the increasingly poor working conditions and the intensification and prolongation of exploitation, which young people and young adults in particular reject.
The employment agency in Hessen relativizes the increase in unemployment to 5.6 percent with expiring employment contracts of the Christmas business and the end of the year. However, the Hessenschau article confirms that this is the highest unemployment rate in years, with the exception of the coronavirus year 2021. But before and after that, the figures were lower. The number of job vacancies on the labor market has also fallen to a level not seen for years.
According to a survey by the Hessian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, one reason for these rising unemployment figures and lower job vacancies is the assessment of future prospects by labor buyers. 32 percent of the companies surveyed say that the economic situation will get worse, 56 percent say that it will remain as (bad) as it is and only 12 percent believe that the economic situation will improve in the future.
The bourgeoisie in Hessen therefore has a realistic, i.e., pessimistic, view of its economic future. This has an impact on current unemployment, but above all on future unemployment. For example, 90% of the companies questioned by the Hessian Chamber of Industry and Commerce do not want to take on any new employees in the future. 25 percent even plan to lay off workers for economic reasons and no longer extend expiring contracts.
Specific reasons for downsizing, according to the capitalists, include the lack of orders, declining private consumption due to inflation and the war in Ukraine. This whole constellation of crisis and recession means that companies are making more losses, and that the equity capital of companies is shrinking in contrast to external capital (debt). This means that the proportion of profit that remains safely with the companies is decreasing, and they are increasingly on shaky ground because the proportion of external capital in the form of debts is increasing. This in turn leads to the companies having the risk of being even more "naked" when the external capital is deducted and having less creditworthiness with current and future creditors in order to obtain further external capital.
In concrete terms, this means, for example, that a company whose equity capital is shrinking in relation to its external capital may take out fewer credits because its own security of being able to repay these credits is also shrinking. However, it also means that banks are less inclined to grant the company credits in order to make necessary investments that would allow the company, for example, to either renew the means of production or to buy more means of production in order to be able to produce better or more goods. In the capitalist crisis dynamic, this leads to the capitalists destroying productive forces in the form of jobs in an attempt to stabilize the company's equity and thus its creditworthiness.
German imperialism and its capitalists are in crisis and know it. In the future, the economic situation will not improve, and it is likely that many more workers will become unemployed. The revolutionaries must keep these upheavals in mind and organize and lead the undoubtedly developing struggles of those who are fighting for their jobs as well as those who have lost their jobs in order to deepen the crisis of German imperialism even more.
The Cover Picture is taken from: https://www.wiwo.de/politik/konjunktur/arbeitslosigkeit-konjunkturflaute-zahl-der-arbeitslosen-steigt/29232240.html
