Family Businesses in Germany Create Many New Jobs

Family businesses played a major role in the job market growth of the last years. From 2006 until 2010, the 500 leading German family businesses created approx. 300,000 new jobs in Germany alone. This equals an employment growth of nine per cent. To put these numbers into context: In the same period of time, domestic employment in the firms listed in the German stock index Dax decreased by 100,000 jobs, which equals seven per cent. These are the key findings of a study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, in cooperation with the Center for SME Research and Entrepreneurship at the University of Mannheim on behalf of the Foundation for Family Businesses (Stiftung Familienunternehmen).

The study compares the 500 family enterprises with the largest number of employees (TOP 500) and the 30 Dax companies (without the family enterprises Beiersdorf, Henkel, Metro and Merck listed in the Dax). The results show that domestic employment in the TOP 500 family businesses increased from 3.3 to 3.6 million between 2006 and 2010. In the same period of time, the Dax companies reduced employment from 1.5 to 1.4 million. On a global level, the TOP 500 family enterprises even registered an increase in employment of eleven per cent, which equals 500,000 new jobs. During the same period, global growth in employment in the Dax firms only increased by two per cent; this corresponds to 60,000 jobs.

Furthermore, the study shows that during the financial and economic crisis, family enterprises registered higher turnover losses but dismissed fewer employees than the Dax firms. In the crisis year of 2009, the TOP 500 family businesses suffered a sales collapse of nearly ten per cent compared to the previous year, while the Dax firms still registered a plus of nearly three per cent. In 2010, both the 500 largest family enterprises as well as the Dax companies grew with increases in turnover of eleven and 13 per cent respectively.

For further information please contact

Dr. Sandra Gottschalk, Phone +49 621/1235-267, E-mail gottschalk@zew.de