Germany extended a program that has kept millions of people from losing their jobs, allocating around 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion) more to help Europe’s biggest economy recover from the coronavirus crisis.
At a meeting in Berlin that ended late Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition agreed to provide job-preserving subsidies until the end of 2021. The subsidies, known in German as “Kurzarbeit” and originally intended for 12 months, pay the bulk of paychecks and allow companies to hold on to workers during an economic shock.
