A few years ago, the notion that "Germans work one day and rest the next" circulated widely on Chinese internet. If true, Germans would be on vacation for nearly half the year, almost "working one day and resting the next." A report from the OECD indicated that Germans worked an average of 1,363 hours per year, ranking at the bottom among the 38 wealthy countries in the organization. Calculated on a daily basis of 8 hours, this amounts to less than 171 days, seemingly confirming the rumor of "working one day and resting the next" and further reinforcing the impression of Germans having "fewer responsibilities but higher pay."

Is Germany really the "promised land" that workers dream of? If so, how can Germany ensure economic development in the context of continuously declining working hours?

Workers work on the car assembly line at the BMW car factory in Munich, Germany

"New Highs" and "New Lows" in Working Hours

The OECD statistics on the average annual working hours of Germans mentioned above also have certain statistical biases. The DW radio station website wrote in an article this year that although the average working hours of Germans have decreased, "one should not draw the conclusion that Germans have become lazy." The article cited analysis from Enzo Weber, an expert from the Institute for Employment Research at the German Federal Employment Agency, stating that compared to most other countries, the employment rate of women in Germany is very high, with about half of them working part-time, which statistically lowers the average annual working hours. He said that in countries with relatively low female employment rates, women's working hours are not even included in the calculations. Currently, about one-third of employed individuals in Germany work part-time, with weekly working hours less than 30 hours.

The OECD itself acknowledges that its data is biased, and due to differences in reporting standards and time references, its data is only usable for comparisons between countries to a limited extent. Additionally, the OECD states in its report that the perceived working hours may not be the same across different countries.

An article titled "Germans Have Never Worked So Little, and Never So Much" published in Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung points out that while the average workload in Germany is indeed declining, the total working hours have actually reached a historical high. Data shows that since the reunification of Germany, the average weekly working hours per person have decreased from hours to . hours, but the total annual working hours have increased from billion hours to billion hours. The article notes that this is primarily due to the growing number of women entering the labor market. In , the labor participation rate for German women was only %, which had increased to % by .

Is time more valuable than money?

Germany was once considered a country where "workaholism" was prevalent, and it is also the birthplace of the Protestant work ethic, a theory that emphasizes hard work as one's calling and views worldly success as a sign of personal salvation. The concept of the Protestant work ethic was first proposed by the German sociologist Max Weber in his book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." He believed that the Protestant ethic was a condition for the development of capitalism and the cornerstone of national prosperity.

However, in recent years, many Germans have evidently become less inclined to the notion of "taking pride in hard work and feeling ashamed of spending money."

Although the average working hours in Germany are already short, many people still hope to further reduce working hours, such as implementing a four-day workweek. This year, Westdeutscher Rundfunk conducted an online survey among German-speaking employees, and the results showed that about half of them wish to reduce work and increase leisure time. Even % of the respondents said they would be willing to sacrifice part of their income for more leisure.

The German "Association for Future Issues" analysis suggests that people consider leisure time more important than income, partly because modern life is high-pressure and demanding, prompting a desire for balance between work and life, and a wish for more time for leisure. For many, pursuing a higher quality of life is not just about improving material standards but also emphasizes personal experiences and relaxation. On the other hand, the association believes that many people already have sufficient income, and even with reduced working hours and lower earnings, they can still lead a satisfying life.

Of course, many employers are against this. Stefan Kampeter, Managing Director of the German Employers' Federation, stated that compared to international standards, the working hours of Germans are already the shortest. If they want to further reduce working hours, they must significantly increase work efficiency, accomplishing more in less time, which has not been achieved in recent years. He used the example of a five-day workweek, stating that if employees are still provided with full pay, the cost of employment would rise sharply, something that all companies cannot bear.

The government departments also have doubts about further reducing working hours. Mark Schmitz, the labor policy spokesperson for the CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that implementing a five-day workweek is very difficult for industries with insufficient manpower or high attendance requirements.

Additionally, data from Germany's largest health insurance company shows that the number of sick days taken by Germans has reached a historic high, with an average of . days per person, and the phenomenon of "sick leave fraud" has become so severe that companies must take measures to address it. A survey conducted by a public opinion and data company in month found that over / of respondents had recently feigned illness.

Let the "World Leisure Champion" do more work.

German media analysis suggests that the declining trend in average working hours per person in Germany is highly noteworthy. With the retirement of the baby boom generation, the number of working-age individuals is expected to sharply decrease in the coming years. The German Council of Economic Experts has analyzed that the average working hours are likely to continue to shorten, which will be the primary reason for the bleak medium-term economic outlook in Germany. The analysis points out that unless work intensity is increased, Germany must be prepared for the possibility of failing to achieve quarterly economic growth and the risk of falling into recession at any time.

To address this issue, German politicians have been discussing ways to provide more job opportunities for women and considering the overall postponement of retirement age; some politicians also plan to attract immigrants to slow down the shrinking working population. However, the media points out that these measures are limited in effect because there is insufficient willingness for large-scale immigration of foreigners.

Patrick Welte, a senior editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, writes in a commentary that there is actually a third way to alleviate the labor shortage: increasing working hours again, but this option has hardly been discussed in political debates. Welte says Germany should learn from Americans and Swiss, whose working hours are much longer than those of Germans, and whose average income is also much higher. However, strikes and poll results indicate that Germans are unwilling to work more.

Welt attributes this phenomenon to the German government, believing that the government's heavy taxation has dampened people's interest in "working more to earn more," turning Germans into "world champions of leisure." Germany is currently in an aging society, and to maintain the existing standard of living, it is necessary to increase the weekly working hours or delay retirement. However, both the public and the government have become accustomed to the norm of continuously decreasing working hours over the past few decades, making the implementation of such policies clearly met with resistance. While adopting new technologies to improve productivity can offset some of this resistance, it cannot solve the problem as a whole, at least not entirely relying on this method.

Wilt said that no economy can promise continuous income growth, only those who "roll up their sleeves and work hard" can expect higher income. "It's like a fairy tale to think about working less while complaining about insufficient income."