Frankfurt am Main – People want work schedules that fit their lives. Collective bargaining agreements and employee participation have made a significant difference here: 70.9 percent of employees are satisfied or at least somewhat satisfied with their current work schedules. Yet even these employees are calling for more autonomy in the workplace of tomorrow. This is one of the findings of the IG Metall employee survey, in which 681,241 employees across more than 7,000 companies nationwide participated. “We need new approaches to working-time policy for the working society of tomorrow. For the vast majority of employees, the 35-hour workweek is their preferred working time. We must break the employers’ mantra: full-time plus overtime plus flexibility plus pressure to perform. These are not working hours that fit with life. Employees want more self-determination instead of having their working hours dictated by others,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Tuesday in Frankfurt.
The vast majority (67.9 percent) of workers would like a 35-hour workweek or shorter working hours. One in five (20.2 percent) wants to reduce full-time work to fewer than 35 hours.
More than four out of five respondents (82.3 percent) believe it would be beneficial to be able to temporarily reduce working hours, for example, to raise children, care for relatives, or pursue professional development. In return, employees expect financial compensation.
“The employees’ message is clear: they are calling for a redistribution of working hours throughout their careers. This shift in working-time policy cannot be achieved by individuals or by individual works councils alone. Reliable collective bargaining agreements and legal regulations are necessary for this,” said Hofmann.
Even though the realities of working hours vary across companies and departments, the same factors determine satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Among respondents who are satisfied with their working hours, more than 90 percent (93.6 percent) have predictable work schedules. Among those who express dissatisfaction, this is true for less than half (48.1 percent). Among the dissatisfied group, 37.7 percent complain of excessively long workweeks of over 40 hours, and nearly two-thirds (62.0 percent) report that they constantly feel rushed and under time pressure.
What is needed now is a work-time policy that reinforces the factors that increase satisfaction with working hours and limits those that lead to dissatisfaction, emphasized the IG Metall chairman: “Whether employees are satisfied or dissatisfied with their working hours, the same factors influence this everywhere. Whether they’re shift workers or retail clerks—the same applies to everyone: They want self-determined work schedules. The survey demonstrates this very clearly.”
How this can be implemented in practice will be the subject of intensive debate in the coming months within companies and collective bargaining committees.
