Working Hours Why working longer doesn’t help—and actually does more harm than good

When employees work more for the same pay, the need for staff decreases. Longer working hours therefore often mean job cuts through the back door. Shorter working hours, however, can secure jobs.

Currently, employers want to extend working hours—for example, from 35 to 40 hours a week—while maintaining the same pay—citing the crisis as the reason. But if employees in companies that are not operating at full capacity were to work even longer hours, a large portion of the workforce would become redundant. In fact, when there is too little work, working hours must be reduced so that everyone has enough work.

Working shorter hours—not longer—saves jobs. IG Metall has demonstrated this in hundreds of companies where working hours have been reduced, for example, under collective bargaining agreements aimed at job security, but also through other collective bargaining measures. 

“Cutting jobs while demanding longer working hours is a complete contradiction,” says Achim Dietrich, chairman of the general works council at auto parts supplier ZF. “At many ZF locations, working hours have already been reduced, and employees were required to take mandatory days off (T-ZUG). We won’t solve the current challenges if everyone suddenly starts working 40 hours. On the contrary. We had to reduce working hours—and in doing so, we essentially cut hours rather than people.”

International studies also confirm that shorter work hours safeguard jobs. The OECD concluded, based on data from 19 countries during the 2008–09 crisis, that short-time work programs played a decisive role in preserving jobs, particularly in Germany. According to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), shorter work hours also helped safeguard jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longer working hours mean more strain, more stress, and more cases of illness. The consequences of the crisis weigh heavily on employees’ shoulders. Shorter working hours—which we can influence—protect our own health.

Occupational medicine has long proven that long and excessively long working hours endanger health. As working hours increase, not only do errors rise, but so do workplace accidents. “Working more than 40 hours a week poses a safety risk,” says the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV). And: “Anyone who works more than eight hours a day lives a more dangerous life.” The risk of accidents rises exponentially after the eighth hour of work. By the ninth hour, the risk of a workplace accident is already 30 percent higher than in the previous eight hours; by the tenth hour, it is 60 percent higher; and by the twelfth hour, it is as high as 110 percent.

In addition, the risk of illness also rises significantly as weekly working hours increase, particularly because the body and mind have less time to recover. This is shown by studies from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Excessively long working hours are associated with a wide range of health problems. Exhaustion and sleep disorders occur more frequently, as do stress-related illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders.

Germany isone of the most productive countries in the world. According to the OECD, for example, Germany ranks among the top 10 globally in this regard. Industrial workers in Germany produce significantly more per hour than in other countries.

This is also due to shorter working hours. International studies show that the longer the workday, the lower the productivity. A study by Stanford University (U.S.), for example, concludes that output per hour begins to decline as early as the sixth hour of work per day. In addition, the error rate rises significantly as working hours increase.

The fact is: We’re working more than ever before. In 2025, the workforce in Germany logged 61.26 billion working hours—about 5 billion more than 20 years earlier. Although the number of hours worked per employed person has fallen slightly, a much higher proportion of the population is working today than in the past: 46 million in 2025 compared to 39 million in 2005. This is due in particular to the higher labor force participation rate among women.

If we want to mobilize more workers, here’s the better approach: Expanding child care and, above all, offering flexible work schedules will enable more women to pursue gainful employment. In the 2018 metal industry collective bargaining round, IG Metall secured reduced full-time hours and the option to convert the collectively agreed-upon bonus into up to eight days off.

For more background, see our “Myths About Working Hours.” 

Companies with shorter work hours are more attractive to skilled workers who want to balance work and life, for example, to care for children or family members.

Full-time employees want shorter working hours, not longer ones. This is shown by a survey conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). For more than half, 35 hours is the desired workweek.

In fact, companies are even recruiting skilled workers with shorter, collectively bargained working hours—such as firms in the East German metal and electrical industries, which are reducing the workweek from 38 to 35 hours under collective bargaining agreements.

Innovations and ideas do not arise from longer workdays and increased stress. Shorter work hours foster innovation.

Companies where employees use their expertise and ideas to improve processes and bring new products to customers perform better.