Germany’s ‘Try Before You Switch’ Job Model Takes Aim at a Stalled Labour Market

The German government is rolling out a suite of labour-market reforms designed to make workers more willing to change jobs, among them a scheme that lets employees test a new position for several weeks before committing permanently. The move, part of a broader reform package from the black-red coalition, seeks to ease the deep-seated reluctance that keeps many skilled workers locked in roles they have outgrown.

Under the “job-change on probation” model, employees can sample a new employer’s workplace and duties for a limited time. If the fit is not right, they keep their original job. Policymakers hope that by lowering the risk of a blind leap, the scheme will stimulate mobility in industries most starved for talent.

A raft of other measures accompanies the trial. The coalition plans to extend maximum permissible fixed-term contracts without a substantive reason to 48 months, allowing up to six renewals. At the same time, sick-pay rules are tightening: employers will be required to demand a doctor’s note from the first day of illness. Health Minister Warken also intends to ban sick notes obtained via online questionnaires that involve no direct doctor contact; telephone-based certifications will be scrapped, though video-consultations remain permissible.

The reforms come against a backdrop of steadily eroding public placement services. In 2024 the Federal Employment Agency accompanied just 4.9% of all job changes, down from 13.2% in 2015. Over the same period the number of full-time caseworkers in job placement shrank from more than 19,000 to roughly 14,000, dragging down success rates per employee well below past levels.

Meanwhile, efforts to plug skills gaps with foreign workers are losing steam. Only about 55,000 third-country nationals received a residence permit for employment in 2024, a 25% drop from the previous year. The government’s planned “Work-and-Stay Agency” (WSA) – a digital one-stop shop designed to cut red tape for skilled immigrants – remains stuck in jurisdictional disputes between federal and state authorities.

Filling the gap from within also means rewriting the rules for benefit recipients. A new basic income system, which replaces the former Bürgergeld, took effect on 1 July 2026. It puts enforceable participation duties and cooperation plans at the centre. Job centres are now required to conduct more rigorous potential assessments and, where health limitations exist, steer claimants early toward rehabilitation. Internal guidance issued by the Employment Agency in early July permits benefit cuts not only for non-compliance but also for behaviour that actively obstructs job?taking – such as poor personal hygiene or arriving intoxicated at appointments.

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