COVID-19 crisis could destroy one mln jobs at German SMEs this year: KfW study

BERLIN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany could decline by 3.3 percent until the end of the year, resulting in a loss of almost 1.1 million jobs, according to a study published by the German development bank KfW on Thursday.

German SMEs had still expanded their workforce considerably up to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. At the end of 2019, employment in SMEs reached a new high of 32.3 million, accounting for 71.3 percent of the country's total employment, according to KfW.