On 14 May 1984, IG Metall began a strike for the 35-hour week in the metal industry of North Württemberg and North Baden. Hesse followed a week later. The union’s slogan was Mehr Zeit zum Leben, Lieben, Lachen, more time for living, loving, laughing. The employers locked out about half a million workers, ten times as many as were on strike. The dispute lasted until 4 July 1984. An arbitration led by the former defense minister Georg Leber cut the working week to 38.5 hours. By 1995, it had fallen in steps to 35 hours in the West German metal industry.
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Time Instead of Money
In February 2018, IG Metall and the metal employers of Baden-Württemberg agreed that employees may reduce their working week to 28 hours for up to two years. Afterward they have a full right to return to full time. Shift workers, carers and parents of young children may also choose eight days off instead of a new annual payment. In November 2018, a union survey of works councils in 1,400 companies found that about 190,000 employees planned to take the days off.
In March 2024, after months of strikes, the train drivers’ union GDL and Deutsche Bahn agreed to cut the working week for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours by 2029, with no loss of pay. Workers who prefer money can choose to work longer, up to 40 hours a week, for more pay.
The Four-Day Week Trial
From the start of 2024, 45 organizations in Germany tested a four-day week for six months. The University of Münster led the study, under Professor Julia Backmann. Employees reported less stress and fewer symptoms of burnout. Productivity stayed the same or rose slightly. More than 70 percent of the organizations said they wanted to continue after the trial.
Holiday Money
On a five-day week, the Federal Leave Act gives 20 days of leave a year. Collective agreements, with few exceptions, give 30. Many employees also receive Urlaubsgeld, holiday money, an extra payment for the holiday. In an online survey by the WSI institute published in 2026, 73 percent of employees with a collective agreement received it, and 35 percent of those without one. In the collective agreements the institute examined, the amounts range from 186 euros in agriculture in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to 2,904 euros for salaried employees in the wood and plastics industry of Westphalia-Lippe.
Loyalty for Loyalty
In 1835, Alfred Krupp set up a voluntary fund for illness and death for his 67 workers. A compulsory sickness and death fund followed in 1853, and a company pension fund in 1855. From 1856, Krupp built housing and company shops for his workers and paid wages above the average. The aim was to increase the workers’ attachment and loyalty to the firm. Krupp presented the works as a community under the motto Treue gegen Treue, loyalty for loyalty. A true Kruppianer, as his workers were called, was expected to show only his best side in private life too. The general regulations of 1872 banned union and Social Democratic activity. When Alfred Krupp died, more than 20,000 people worked for the firm.
Nokia Leaves Bochum
On 15 January 2008, Nokia announced that it would close its mobile phone plant in Bochum and move production to Romania. About 2,000 of some 2,300 permanent employees lost their jobs, and about 800 temporary workers were also affected. The site had received 88 million euros in public subsidies. Peter Struck, head of the SPD group in the Bundestag, called Nokia’s conduct unanständig, indecent. The premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers, warned Nokia against acquiring the image of a Subventions-Heuschrecke, a subsidy locust. SPD leader Kurt Beck spoke of caravan capitalism. Politicians of all parties called for a boycott of Nokia phones. According to the magazine Capital, Nokia’s market share in Germany fell by eight percent between January and July 2008. The new plant in Romania closed in 2011.
Volkswagen’s Job Guarantee
In 1993, more than 30,000 jobs at Volkswagen were at stake. From 1 January 1994, the company introduced a four-day week instead, under a special collective agreement. Weekly hours fell from 36 to 28.8. Employees lost about ten percent of their annual gross income. The four-day week prevented the loss of 30,000 jobs. A job security agreement from the same year ruled out compulsory redundancies. It was renewed again and again for three decades.
On 2 September 2024, Volkswagen said it could no longer rule out closing plants in Germany. No Volkswagen plant in Germany had ever been closed. A week later, the company terminated the job security agreement in force since 1994. The head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: Es ist ein bitterer Tag. It is a bitter day. Car production at the smallest German plant, in Dresden, was due to end before Christmas 2025. Its staff remain covered by the company’s job guarantee until 2030. If no task is found for them, they may have to stay at home on continued pay.
A Guarantee Until 2034
On 4 March 2025, Mercedes-Benz announced a package of savings agreed with its group works council. The job security agreement for about 91,000 employees in Germany was extended from the end of 2029 to the end of 2034. In return, employees accepted a lower share of the profits and other cuts. The head of the works council, Ergun Lümali, said: Ja, es wird notwendige Einschnitte und Verzicht geben. Yes, there will be necessary cuts and sacrifices.
One in Seven Wants to Lead
In a 2025 survey by the German Economic Institute, employees without leadership responsibility were asked whether they could imagine taking on a leadership position. Only 14 percent said they definitely could. Another 43 percent said they had no interest in leadership at all. About four in ten would do it under certain conditions. Those who were unwilling gave their reasons. The most common were the heavy workload (77 percent), the high responsibility (75 percent) and the fear that their private life would suffer (73 percent).
Deeper Rather Than Higher
In the recruiter Michael Page’s survey Talent Trends 2026, only 18 percent of employees in Germany named promotion as their top career goal. Asked where they want to invest at work, more of them named learning new skills (49 percent), further training (44 percent) and deepening their expertise in their current field (36 percent). Almost two thirds said they would turn down a promotion with a pay rise if it harmed their well-being.