In a 2018 survey by Appinio for the publisher Murmann, 1,000 people in Germany could name up to two things they most want from a boss. The top answer was Vertraut mir, trusts me, with 32.9 percent. Second came Ist verlässlich in Absprachen, is reliable in agreements, with 32.4 percent. Having new ideas got 9.0 percent. In a StepStone survey of about 14,000 professionals and managers in November 2018, 77 percent of professionals agreed with Wir können uns aufeinander verlassen, we can rely on each other.
studies
Ghosting
In a representative Trendence survey reported in March 2023, almost one in five employees said they had ghosted an employer. Of these, 18 percent did not show up on their first working day. Half of the 1,914 respondents with work experience said that a potential employer had ghosted them.
Eleven Years in One Company
In 2021 employees in Germany had worked for their current company for 11.0 years on average. In 2019 the figure was 10.9 years. The German Economic Institute calculated these figures from the Socio-Economic Panel.
The Home Behind the Filter
In a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom in January 2021, one in four said they deliberately avoid showing their home on video calls. They use a background photo or a filter. More than half said they dress up for video conferences on purpose, even when working from home.
Free Time With Colleagues
In 2009 the job portal Monster asked its users: Verbringen Sie Ihre Freizeit auch mit Kollegen? Do you also spend your free time with colleagues? In Germany, 33 percent answered that they strictly separate professional and private life. 40 percent said they now and then do something together as a group. 27 percent said their colleagues belong to their circle of friends. The survey was not representative. It reflects the views of Monster’s users.
The Boss’s Friend Request
In a Forsa survey for the digital association Bitkom, reported in January 2012, 56 percent of the employees among the respondents said they decline a friend request from their boss. Forsa had asked 1,002 German-speaking internet users. Bitkom’s Tobias Arns said: Die Privatsphäre der Mitarbeiter muss der Chef auch im Web akzeptieren. The boss must accept the employees’ private sphere on the web too. A later Bitkom survey, reported in 2014, found that only 5 percent were already friends with their boss online.
Du Sideways, Sie Upward
In a representative YouGov survey of 1,035 employed people in Germany in September 2019, 69 percent said they say du to their colleagues. Only a quarter said du to their superior. Among those aged over 55, the figure was 17 percent.
Job Ads That Say Du
In a 2017 Careerbuilder survey of 1,018 users of the job site jobs.de, 35.2 percent rated du in job ads as negative and wenig wertschätzend, showing little respect. 26.2 percent liked it, and 38.6 percent said it made no difference. In 2019 researchers in Osnabrück surveyed 1,306 people aged 15 to 65. The participants did not prefer applicants to be addressed with du, either in the job ad or in the job interview.
The Shrinking Sie
In a 2023 Forsa survey for the job site Jobware, 27 percent of men and 31 percent of women said they want to be addressed with Sie in job ads. According to the same report, 64 percent of employees had wanted Sie five years earlier. It is not clear whether both figures come from the same question, so the size of the change is uncertain. A Questionpro survey reported in 2024 found that only 10 percent say Sie to all their colleagues. 35 percent say du to all of them. The largest group, 48 percent, say du to some colleagues and Sie to others.
Saying Du Does Not Sell
In 2021 Susanne Hensel-Börner of the HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration and Udo Kords of the FOM published a study titled Duzen bringt keine Vorteile, saying du brings no advantage. In an experiment, 308 participants watched short videos of sales staff greeting customers in a bank, a car dealership and a sports shop. The staff used either Sie or du. The authors report: Kunden reagieren mehrheitlich positiver auf die Anrede mit Sie. Most customers respond more positively to being addressed with Sie. Taken across all three settings, the likelihood of buying that participants reported was significantly higher with Sie.