You must work harder, new chancellor tells Germans

Telegraph

14-05-2025

Germans must work harder and more efficiently in order to fix the stagnating economy, Friedrich Merz, the new chancellor, has said.
People should consider giving up their four-day working weeks and work-life balance to become more 'efficient', the leader of the centre-Right Christian Democrats [CDU] said.
'We must work more, and above all more efficiently, in this country,' he said. 'With a four-day week and work-life balance, we won't be able to maintain this country's prosperity.'
Mr Merz made the remarks ahead of a major speech on Wednesday afternoon, where he is expected to outline his plan to breathe life into the German economy.
It comes after a leading German think tank raised the idea of sacrificing an annual public holiday to support the country's plans for rearmament.
The Ifo Institute said Germans should work more and take less time off, a goal that could be achieved by a reduction in the number of annual public holidays, which varies from state to state.
Mr Merz, 69m was sworn in as chancellor last week, having comfortably won February's general elections on a pro-business platform and a vow to heavily reduce migration levels.
A former BlackRock executive, Mr Merz fears that the German employment system is too generous and too soft, to the point of restricting productivity.
Germany's economy, the largest in Europe, is struggling with a third consecutive year of recession, in addition to a shortage in skilled workers and the decline of its car industry.
About one in three German industries say they are suffering from a serious shortage in skilled workers and are trying to address the shortfall.
Increased competition from China, and disappointing results in the electric car market, have also dented Germany's economic prowess.
While previous governments sought to address the worker shortage by wooing migrants from India, Mr Merz capitalised on anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany to secure his election victory.
He has also introduced reforms that will allow Germany to take on unprecedented amounts of national debt, as part of efforts to massively increase funding for the Bundeswehr, the German army.
The CDU has long argued that poor worker productivity, linked to shorter working weeks, has also contributed to the slump.
Mr Merz says he has already agreed with his coalition partner, the Social Democrats [SPD] to an amendment of the 40-hour working week that will make it easier for Germans to work overtime.
According to the German Economic Institute (IW), the German economy is expected to contract by a further 0.2 per cent this year and slip into a third year of recession.