According to a recent study conducted by the Startup Federation and the Techniker Krankenkasse (German Health Insurance Fund), high workloads are increasingly becoming a health risk for employees in the startup sector.
The survey revealed that two-thirds (68%) of the founders questioned stated that intense workloads constitute a serious health risk. Professional uncertainty emerged as the primary stress factor for the respondents (62%). Currently, 45% of the polled founders consider burnout a fundamental hazard for their staff. Looking ahead, 66% of founders believe that psychological overload will present a health risk within the next five years, an increase of 21 percentage points.
This high workload means that company health plays a significant role for nearly 80% of the surveyed participants. Despite this acknowledged need, most young companies lack the necessary funding for appropriate health provisions, with only 51% of startups providing financial resources for health initiatives, according to the study.
Despite the challenging workload, a majority of founders support the proposed reforms to the Working Hours Act. Sixty percent of the respondents favor changing the maximum daily working hours to a weekly cap. The Federal Government intends to replace the current rigid limit of eight hours per day with a weekly maximum of up to 48 hours. This change would allow workdays to be extended if business demands increase, provided the overall weekly limit is maintained.
Regarding technology, most founders view the growing application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) positively. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed believe AI will boost the productivity of their employees. An even higher percentage, 83%, view competence in handling AI products as a core skill for the future. Furthermore, over half (57%) of the respondents expect AI to free up time for innovation and creativity while making social skills more important. Simultaneously, around two-thirds of the surveyed founders anticipate that using AI will help reduce the shortage of qualified specialists within their companies.
