Leading politicians from the Social Democrats (SPD) have firmly rejected industry demands to abolish the 35-hour working week. Vice faction head Dagmar Schmidt told the Handelsblatt that the reduced working hours are the result of a negotiation between employers and unions, not a concession that employers could unilaterally revoke. She emphasized that competitiveness hinges not just on working hours, but primarily on investments in new technologies, highly skilled employees, and overall productivity.
Workplace policy expert Annika Klose strongly denounced any increase in working hours that does not come with an equivalent rise in pay, calling it “a genuine disgrace.” She noted that the 35-hour week serves to prevent excessive strain, promote the balance between work and family, and make the metal and electronics industry attractive to both domestic and foreign skilled workers-a vital advantage in the face of demographic change. “It is an old myth that we can simply boost productivity through more work,” Klose stated.
Furthermore, economic policy specialist Sebastian Roloff cautioned against adopting a singular focus on labor costs, warning that “Germany has always been better, not cheaper, in international competition. A race to the bottom will be fatal for Germany.” He also pointed out that existing collective agreements already include stabilization measures, including employee contributions, for economically challenging periods.
The unions are equally vocally opposing the manufacturers’ and managers’ calls to eliminate the 35-hour week. Christine Boguslawski, a chief negotiator for IG Metall, told the Handelsblatt that those who attack the 35 hours are effectively seeking to cut wages rather than face business challenges. “Cheap competition is not a sustainable strategy.” She added that the economy is not ailing due to short hours, but rather because employees lack sufficient purchasing power and companies lack innovation and site loyalty. Boguslawski cautioned that requiring longer hours with insufficient work would only lead to increased unemployment, threatening to provoke a massive employee protest.
Barbara Resch, the head of IG Metall in Baden-Württemberg, supported this view, stating that abolishing the 35-hour week would represent a step backward into a “pre-industrial era” for industrial policy. She stressed that Germany’s strong position is founded on the combination of high productivity and favorable collective agreements.
Oliver Heinrich, the collective agreement coordinator for IG Mining, Chemistry, Energy, and Mining, noted that current framework agreements already allow for longer working hours. However, he reported that the chemical industry, for example, is currently using these clauses only “homeopathically.” He suspects the debate over the 35-hour week may be a “distraction maneuver by employers” intended to divert attention from geopolitical issues and their own strategic failures.
