Germany believes having found the most German solution to its productivity problems: work more

Germany has been considered for decades as The economic locomotive from Europe. However, currently It crosses a crisis that has surprised analysts and experts. The model that allowed the country to prosper with reduced working hours and shoot its productivity, seems to have reached its limit. German leaders They look for new formulas To recover lost growth and have found a possible solution: work more.

Germany works little. In recent months, the economic debate has intensified without the German responsible having found the key to getting out of the economic stagnation. However, from the business circles of Bavaria, southeast of Germany, they point out that it could be something as simple as increasing annual work hours. The formula: eliminating one of the religious holidays of the German calendar.

According to published the newspaper Welt, Federal Foreign Minister Friedrich Merz would agree with this statement: “In this country we have to work more and, above all, more efficiently,” said the president in a few words that Later he clarified “But in Germany we have groups, especially among the youngest generation, which work a lot.”

They have tried everything. The pilot tests of the four -day work week They have not achieved the Productivity impulse that the country needs. Foreign Minister Merz recently warned: “With the four -day week and the balance between professional and personal life we ​​will not be able to maintain the prosperity of this country,” declared The German Chancellor to I monde. This statement has generated discomfort in a society that has always been considered hardworking and disciplined.

For decades, German workers have enjoyed shorter working hours compared to other European countries, especially those in the south. This situation was justified by high productivity and added value of German products and services, which allowed “doing a lot.” However, the economy fails to take off and the government now points to “lack of work” and “preference for leisure” as factors that are ballasting economic growth.

Eliminate holidays. Before this panorama, some voices of the business have proposed concrete measures to increase the working time Without increasing working days daily, which in many cases are already more than 40 hours due to the enormous load of overtime.

According to published BildBertram Brossardt, general director of the Bavarian Business Association, suggested to eliminate, at least one of the holidays that the Germans have. “Easter Monday, Monday of Pentecost and San Esteban. My colleagues in France and Italy are constantly surprised that we have those free days. Removing one of those free days would greatly benefit the German economy and would not mean a heavy burden for employees,” said Brossardt, adding that “religious festivities should not be taboo in the debate.”

The data support it. The proposal is not just symbolic. Christoph Schröder Researcher at the German Economic Institute (IW) He maintains that Eliminating a holiday could increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Germany by up to 8,600 million euros. According to published The avant -gardeMichael Hüther, director of the IW, gave as an example the case of Denmark, which had recently eliminated a holiday “that was an additional income of 400 million to the state budget,” said the economist. The problem is that all federal states in the country, regardless of setting their own holidays, should agree to abolish it.

Germany to the tail at hours worked. Brossardt’s arguments rely on blunt data. In 2023, a German employee worked an annual average of 1,343 hours, which is 92 hours less than in Austria, 186 hours less than in Switzerland and 391 hours less than in Italy, According to OECDE data. “We are not productive enough. If we want to be competitive, we have to return to work more!” said The businessman to the newspaper Bild.

Despite these figures, Germany is not the country with more holidays. On average, the Germans enjoy 9 national holidays, although in some southern regions such as Bayern, Basen-Württemberg or Saarland can reach 12 holidays. In comparison, Austria and Malta enjoy thirteen holidays.

In Spain, the usual are twelve, with some autonomous communities such as Catalonia, Community Valencian and Navarra add 13 holidays; Ceuta has 14 holidays a year, while the Canary Islands conform to 11 days.

Average weekly hours worked in each country

The problem is not the days. Such and as he published The confidentialsome experts do not believe that eliminating a holiday is the solution for the German economy, but that the country must face a change in its labor market to recover the productivity of yesteryear. Germany is the second European country where less hours work a week in full -time jobs, and the figure drops even more if the Part -time contracts. According to official dataone in two women works part -time in Germany.

Therefore, some economists propose Encourage the incorporation of women to the full -time labor market and facilitate the arrival of more foreign workers to relieve the shortage of qualified labor. The key, according to these experts, is a deep review of the German labor market to adapt to the new challenges economic and demographic that supposes the Agence of the active population.

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Image | Unspash (Mashkumar Painam, Spencer Davis)