employment office
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employment office
A government agency responsible for job placement and the administration of unemployment benefits. The official term today is usually 'Agentur für Arbeit' (Federal Employment Agency) or 'Jobcenter', but the term 'Arbeitsamt' (employment office) is still very common in everyday speech.
Nach seiner Kündigung musste er sich beim Arbeitsamt melden.
After he was laid off, he had to register with the employment office.
The word is made up of 'Arbeit' (work) and 'Amt' (authority, office). The '-s-' is a linking sound that connects the two parts. So it is literally the 'office for work'.
Das Arbeitsamt hilft Menschen bei der Suche nach einer neuen Stelle.
The employment office helps people look for a new job.
'Arbeitsamt' (employment office) is the traditional term and is very commonly used in everyday speech. In official documents or formal language, the agency is usually called something else today.
Umgangssprachlich gehen die Leute immer noch zum Arbeitsamt, auch wenn es offiziell „Agentur für Arbeit“ heißt.
In everyday speech, people still go to the employment office, even if it is officially called 'Agentur für Arbeit' (Federal Employment Agency).
To express movement there, you use 'zum Arbeitsamt gehen' (to go to the employment office). To describe a place or status, you use 'beim Arbeitsamt gemeldet sein' (to be registered with the employment office).
Er muss morgen früh zum Arbeitsamt.
He has to go to the employment office tomorrow morning.
job center
The Jobcenter and the Arbeitsamt can both be involved in looking for work and providing government benefits. The Jobcenter is mainly associated with assisting people who receive Bürgergeld, formerly Arbeitslosengeld II. Arbeitsamt is a colloquial, less precise term today for the employment authority, often the Agentur für Arbeit.
Wegen seines Arbeitslosengeldantrags geht Daniel heute zum Arbeitsamt.
Daniel is going to the employment office today because he has applied for unemployment benefits.
Wegen seines Bürgergeldantrags muss Daniel heute zum Jobcenter.
Daniel has to go to the Jobcenter today because he has applied for Bürgergeld.
