That means the continued payment of wages.
Germans are sick one day each month on average. It looks like the German government MIGHT actually do something about it. Finally.
Should employees on sick leave receive less pay? In its efforts to combat high rates of sick leave, the federal government could also restrict continued pay. Researcher Enzo Weber explains what this would mean for those who feign illness and those who are genuinely sick.
Could it be our ridiculously high energy costs? Nah.
Germany’s industrial engine sputters as Bosch axes 20,000 jobs – Rising unemployment rate piles pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.
German industrial giant Bosch on Friday confirmed plans to cut 20,000 jobs after profits nearly halved last year, underlining the mounting strain on Germany’s once-dominant manufacturing sector and increasing the pressure on politicians in Berlin to find a solution.
Official data released Friday also showed Germany’s unemployment rate, unadjusted for seasonal factors, rising to 6.6 percent — the highest level in twelve years. The number of unemployed people surpassed three million in January.
That means job cuts.
German business groups expect job cuts in 2026 as economic crisis drags on – A majority of German business associations expect job cuts in 2026 as the country’s economic crisis persists, with industry hit hardest by global protectionism and weak exports, a survey by the German Economic Institute IW showed on Monday.
Of 46 business associations surveyed, 22 anticipate workforce reductions next year. Only nine expect to increase hiring and 15 foresee stable employment levels.
Progress marches on.
Industrial giant Bosch shocks Germany with plans to cut 13,000 jobs – The Bosch group, one of Germany’s leading industrial players, has announced a far-reaching job cut programme. On 25 September the company said it would cut an additional 13,000 positions by 2030.
Germany’s Lufthansa To Cut 4,000 Jobs By 2030, Targetting Admin – Lufthansa set new financial targets for 2028-2030, including an adjusted operating margin of eight to 10 percent.
Not with us!
Does Germany need to work harder? Its government seems to think so – The average workweek in Germany last year was about 34 hours, according to Eurostat data, less than France and Greece as well as the average across the European Union, which was 36 hours. In addition, German labor productivity per hour has also been essentially flat since 2009.
A study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development reports that Germans work the least among its member countries, clocking in at 1,335 hours per person per year in 2023, compared to 1,496 hours in the U.K. and 1,805 hours in the U.S.
Brilliant. This is better than free lunch!
Why didn’t anyone ever think of this before?
Free money for all: Germany’s basic income experiment – One of the world’s most extensive studies on unconditional basic income was held in Germany. What does the experiment reveal?
… It is seen as a redistribution of wealth through taxes. In the activists’ calculation, Germany’s top earners — 10% of the population — would end up contributing a part of their income to everyone else. They estimate that 83% of the population would thereby have access to more money. The remaining 7% mid-earners would be unaffected by the redistribution scheme.
In times of rising populism, the basic income activists believe that this is a way to combat the population’s dissatisfaction due to wealth inequality.
That means unemployment.
Germany: Number of unemployed highest in 10 years – The number of unemployed people in Germany has risen to its highest in a decade. The rise comes as the weakness of Europe’s largest economy took its toll on the labor market.
Hiring war gestern (was yesterday).
German companies’ hiring plans drop to four-year low, Ifo finds – German companies are less willing to hire new staff than at any point in more than four years, data from the Ifo institute showed on Monday, as weakness in Europe’s largest economy has left its mark on the country’s labour market.
Ifo’s employment barometer fell to 93.7 points in October from 94.0 points in September, the lowest level since July 2020.
It’s a Volkssport (popular national pastime) here. It’s just what Germans do.
People resent living in a political system that takes at least half of what you earn and they “pay it back” every opportunity they get. And twenty sick days a year is nothing. Berlin cops and firemen, for instance, are “sick” more than twice that amount every year.
German bosses are blaming the country’s economic woes on ‘work-shy’ Gen Z calling in sick nearly 20 times a year – Germany is in a structural crisis—with falling exports, soaring energy prices, and weakening competitiveness in its most important sectors. But according to the bosses of Germany’s biggest businesses, the real problem is its workers taking too much sick leave.
Several German employers have lamented a record-breaking year for absences linked to illness.
Nobody wants Volkswagen’s electric cars.
The fewest German drivers do, anyway.
Driving on empty: The German government has few options to help an ailing car industry – Economy Minister Robert Habeck will meet with carmakers — but he has few weapons to stave off a car industry crisis.
Threats of historic job cuts and plant closures at German car giant Volkswagen and plunging earnings elsewhere in the industry are prompting Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck to hold crisis talks on Monday.
But strained federal finances, fights with China over car tariffs and looming EU environmental regulations leave Habeck with few tools to help an industry which is the country’s economic backbone.
Observing Hermann 