Overview

• The Federal Employment Agency in Saxony reaffirmed tailored measures for those unemployed for a year or longer, including intensive counseling, upskilling, trial work and covered application costs with integration coaching.
• Employers hiring people unemployed for at least two years can receive wage subsidies of 75% or 50% for up to two years, with additional support for training tied to social-insurance employment.
• A Diakonie-supported qualitative study finds long-term unemployment often becomes self-reinforcing, citing illness, caregiving duties, debt, addiction, fear of failure and ambivalence about returning to work.
• The study reports significant placement hurdles for those 55 and older and argues most affected people want jobs but respond better to ‘benevolent pressure’ than strict sanctions.
• Saxony recorded 50,455 long-term unemployed in 2024 after a pre-pandemic low in 2019, and agency leaders link the heightened risk of prolonged joblessness to low formal qualifications.