The fruit basket was once

The fruit basket is a thing of the past. In the battle for skilled workers, employers are increasingly focusing on “hard” benefits, such as special payments or employee discounts, rather than “soft” extras, such as the promise of flat hierarchies and a good working atmosphere. This is the finding of an analysis of around 34 million online job advertisements using data from the Bertelsmann Foundation's Job Monitor. Remuneration-related benefits now dominate the benefits offered and are mentioned in around 67% of job advertisements. Flexible working time models are also increasingly included in advertisements and are offered in 37% of job postings.

When it comes to salary information, the old saying still applies: “You don't talk about money.” Only around one-third of all job advertisements contained salary information. Salary transparency varies considerably depending on the level of activity. While salary information is particularly rare for higher-skilled positions, job advertisements for lower-paid jobs in the assistant and skilled worker sectors contain salary information much more frequently.

Collective bargaining agreements make a positive contribution to transparency, with strongly regulated framework conditions that make salary structures much more visible and also reveal a broader spectrum of benefits. This contributes to a clear increase in attractiveness, especially for unskilled and skilled workers.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Unemployment among university graduates: The number of unemployed people in Germany could exceed three million this summer. Young people and university graduates are particularly affected. ZEIT analyzes (€) why this group is once again being hit harder.

• Hushed home office: An Indeed survey shows that German employees are dissatisfied with rigid home office regulations. Although 68.7% have clearly defined home office days, 27% use unofficial agreements with their superiors to work remotely more than is permitted. Over 40% of those surveyed would even forego salary for more flexibility.

• Availability during summer vacation: Two-thirds of working people are available for work even during their summer vacation, according to the results of a recent bitkom survey. Older employees between the ages of 50 and 64 reported this significantly more often than younger employees. However, only 15% of respondents are available voluntarily.

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