The statutory minimum wage is set to rise to €12 in October in Germany

 

 "It is currently 9.82 euros. Businesses in the retail and service sectors in particular will then have to pay their employees more.

Almost every second company in Germany will have to adjust their salaries in October due to the planned increase in the statutory minimum wage to EUR 12. This emerges from a survey by the Munich Ifo Institute for the personnel service provider Randstad, which was published on Wednesday. Around 1,000 HR managers from companies of different sizes and industries were surveyed.

44 percent of companies have to adjust their wages upwards. Half of the companies, on the other hand, already pay at least 12 euros. 6 percent did not provide any information. The results also show that the unscheduled increase affects different sectors of the economy to different degrees. 

 

54 percent of retail companies said they had to adjust their salary structures, and around 42 percent in the service sector. At 37 percent, the proportion of companies affected is lowest in industry, which traditionally pays higher wages.

 

Increasing the statutory minimum wage to 12 euros is a key campaign promise made by the SPD, leading partners of German ruling coalition. It causes a lot of criticism from employers, since the Minimum Wage Commission, made up of representatives from employers, employees and economists, actually decides on the amount of the statutory minimum wage. The Association of Bavarian Business spoke on Wednesday of an "unacceptable intervention in collective bargaining autonomy".

The statutory minimum wage is currently EUR 9.82, and will rise to EUR 10.45 at the beginning of July. According to the draft law by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), 6.2 million employees are to benefit from the increase to 12 euros. During the election campaign there was talk of ten million. 

According to the Ifo survey, a third of the workforce in the affected service companies will earn more, in other sectors it is a quarter of the employees."

Employers in some European countries often give the lowest pay for the easiest jobs. If you are a self-starter, you can take such an easy job in Germany for minimum pay of €12, and use free time and what is left of your energy to study, and to move on to a better valued position. Good luck for the Lithuanians willing and able to use this opportunity in Germany.