IG Metall pulls back from four-day week demand due to economic strain

Given the weakening economic situation in Germany, the German Metalworkers' Union (IG Metall) has decided not to push for the introduction of a four-day week for the time being. "A four-day week with full wage compensation is not currently on the union's list of demands," IG Metall head Christiane Benner told the "Bild" newspaper on Tuesday. Germans' working hours have been debated for weeks; the employer-friendly German Economic Institute (IWK), once again called for more incentives for employees to work overtime.

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IG Metall head Benner cited the economic downturn as justification: "We are currently feeling the strain of the economic situation in many companies," she told Bild. Employers are therefore reducing working hours, "at the expense of employees." Benner called on the new federal government to invest more in Germany as a business location and to provide relief for employees. He added that "there is a need for rapid investment from politicians, relief for citizens, and loyalty from companies to the location. How we achieve this quickly must be the focus of the debate."

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Holger Schäfer, labor market expert at the German Economic Institute (IW), called on politicians on Deutschlandfunk radio to "pull out all the stops" to better utilize the country's labor force potential. He cited expanding childcare, reducing the tax burden, eliminating a public holiday, and raising the retirement age to 70, as in Denmark. 

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The fact that Germany's labor force is being utilized "below average" is "not a question of laziness," the IW expert emphasized. It's simply "not attractive enough to extend working hours" in this country, because a large portion of the additional income goes to the state or social security. "We need to review what services we want to provide," Schäfer said. Defining which services could be cut is a matter for politicians. 

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Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has repeatedly emphasized that people in Germany need to work more. "We cannot maintain prosperity with a four-day week and work-life balance," he said in mid-May. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann emphasized over the weekend: "Sometimes one gets the impression that it's no longer about work-life balance, but rather about life-life balance."

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SPD parliamentary group vice-chair Dagmar Schmidt countered that instead of accusing people of laziness and discussing social cuts, what is needed is greater participation of high incomes in the common good, both in taxes and social security contributions.