According to statistics, working hours in Germany are currently lower than ever before. On the other hand, the part-time rate is increasing. The reasons for this include modern working time models and employees’ desire for more free time.
The figures on low working hours
One of the reasons for the low working hours is that the sickness rate increased in 2023. 6.11 percent is a record and results in an average of 15.2 working days lost due to illness. The level has not been this high since 1991.
Overall, working hours fell by 0.3 percent in 2023 to a total of 1,342 hours. That’s not even four hours a day (and that doesn’t include weekends and public holidays).
The only year in which working hours were lower was 2020, when many companies were in crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are also falling figures for overtime. Compared to the previous year, unpaid overtime fell by 1.1 hours in 2023. Paid overtime even fell by 1.7 hours. On average, employees worked 13.2 hours of paid overtime and 18.4 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023.
There is an upward trend in part-time work. In 2023, the number of part-time employees rose by 1.6%. In contrast, the number of full-time jobs rose by only 0.4%.
However, the number of employees is rising sharply overall. 340,000 new employees entered the labor market in 2023. This represents a new high of 45.39 million across Germany.
The weekly working time is below the European average of 37 hours. In Germany, it is 34.7 hours. However, we have not yet reached the low working hours of 31.3 hours per week in the Netherlands.
Low working hours thanks to New Work
The trend towards shorter working hours has long been more than just a trend. The work-life balance is a major focus for many employees. They want to organize work, family and free time for themselves.
Based on survey results from the last 40 years, the Institute for Employment Research has found that the desire for low working hours has always existed among full-time employees, but has probably been reinforced by the pandemic.
Part-time employees, on the other hand, are usually quite satisfied with their working hours. Part-time employees would like to work more, but this desire has also decreased slightly due to the pandemic.
The figures for the pandemic years should be treated with caution, as they could distort the picture. However, it could also be that they have simply accelerated a development that was unstoppable anyway.
New Work is a buzzword that hasn’t just been around since the pandemic. The switch to flexible working models was already in full swing beforehand. However, the pandemic has probably accelerated this process in many companies because they were forced to deal with it. A good example of this is the home office, which has been established in many companies since 2020.
Low working hours criticized
Of course, not everyone is positive about this development. Experts fear that Germany as a business location could suffer greatly from the decline in average working hours. After all, where people work less, less is produced and there is less space and time for innovation.
The concern is that Germany will be left behind in many areas in the long term. So far, however, there are no solutions in sight to tackle this problem. It therefore remains to be seen whether something will develop in this direction and perhaps completely new working time models will emerge that will please as many people as possible.
Conclusion
The main reason for low working hours is the desire for a better work-life balance among employees. The statistics show that companies are trying to accommodate these wishes. The pandemic in 2020 has probably accelerated the changeover. This is a positive development for employees and their work-life balance. However, it could have a negative impact on Germany as a business location in general.
