It has been enthusiastically discussed for days Greek Workers who work an average of about five hours more per week than workers in this country can work a six-day week. For that, they should receive a 40 percent bonus on Saturdays, and a 115 percent bonus on Sundays and holidays. What is remarkable about the uproar over the new regulation is that some of those who a few years ago advocated tough action against Greece and created images such as hammocks with supposedly “lazy Greeks” are suddenly using this as . sample example for overtime.
Can this offer be transferred to Germany? Greece is also increasingly suffering from a shortage of skilled workers, despite unemployment hovering around ten percent. In addition to unfavorable demographic development (similar to Germany), this is primarily due to the fact that many qualified specialists left the country during the crisis, a significant part of whom, by the way, went to Germany. The goal of the law is to keep the remaining skilled workers in the country and motivate them to work harder.
Salary levels in Greece are much lower than in Germany
This could have a positive effect with these significant premiums in Greece, as wage levels there are much lower than in Germany, and especially low-wage groups have been significantly affected by rising inflation rates there in the last two years. Secondly, an attempt is made to curb undeclared work, which is more common on weekends, for example, in the field of tourism. So it is not only about additional work, but also about trying to turn black additional work into legal additional work.
The challenges of the German labor market are clearly different from those of Greece. It cannot be ruled out that, for example, in the field of nursing, it is possible to encourage people to work overtime by paying high premiums, thereby alleviating the shortage of skilled workers in this field. But here again, the problem is actually a different problem, due to the low classification of collective bargaining for nursing staff, which can hardly be solved by paying overtime bonuses. Instead, in order to become more competitive in the international competition for nursing staff, a higher classification is needed in principle.
Germany has a more significant shortage of skilled workers than Greece
In general, one thing remains clear. The shortage of skilled workers in Germany is much more severe than in Greece. With measures such as those sought in Greece, Germany will not be able to control the shortage of skilled workers, not to mention that introducing a four-day week instead of a six-day week is widely discussed. to society.
In this sense, the discussion should be used to identify the tools with which working hours can be effectively increased in Germany. The biggest untapped work potential in Germany is among the many part-time women who work more wishbut cannot do so, mainly because they do not have adequate childcare.
This problem can only be solved by increasing childcare places, not by introducing a six-day work week. In Germany, there is still not a sufficient supply of kindergartens, despite the legal right. According to the latest calculations of the Bertelsmann Foundation, there is a shortage of 430,000 places across the country. There is potential here to at least partially address the need for skilled workers in Germany. Politicians would do well to finally do more to provide daycare places instead of distracting from their own problems with “smoky candles” like the Greek six-day work model.
Germany’s demographics are the main problem
But even if the need for kindergartens were fully met and all part-time working women increased their working hours, Germany’s labor shortage would not be solved. The core of the problem lies in Germany’s demographics. The annual gap of 300,000 to 400,000 workers has been there for several years, as more people retire or emigrate from Germany than young people and people from abroad enter the German labor market. In the long term, this problem will only be solved by coordinated immigration of skilled workers and a much more open immigration law.
Until these two problems are systematically solved in Germany, one can continue to make bold claims. What would you say? “Everybody get out of your hammock and have a six-day work week, Greeks and Germans!”
